Gundam Babylon
by Beth Winter
Summary: Mystery, death and cherry petals: a crossover with Tokyo Babylon that makes the Gundam W boys reconsider their priorities. WARNING: Slash/Yaoi, 1x2, post Endless Waltz
1. Setting the stage


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Author's Notes: This story takes place after Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, but does not spoil it in detail, also after the fourth tankoubon of Tokyo Babylon (adding new characters and events), and uses characters, though not events, from CLAMP Campus Detectives. Prior knowledge of CCD or Tokyo Babylon unnecessary, I guess, although it _could_ make things clearer. The Gundam pilots learn the story as they go along, so I'd say it's possible to catch up. As for the CCD characters, I figured that since Nokoru, Suoh and Akira are about Subaru's age in X, I'd make Nokoru 18, Suoh 17 and Akira 16. The   
Gundam pilots are 16-17 here. This fic has twisted _way_ out of control... but in a good way, I hope! 

Notes on Japanese usage: I tried to keep it to a minimum, here's a small dictionary for the first part:  


sugoi - great, brilliant or scary  
kawaii - cute, pretty  
kaichou - chairman (Nokoru's title as chairman of the high school division)  
sou ka - oh really, I see  
Neesan, Oneesan - elder sister  
Shinigami - oh c'mon... (no, it doesn't mean 'oh c'mon' ^_^)  


Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER 1: Setting the stage 

The war was over.  


"You're still the right age," Lady Une said.  


The war was over.  


"It's the best there is; they only accept the most talented people," she said.  


The war was over.  


"Anyway, some of you might be surprised to know this, but we do have a minimum education requirement for Preventers."  


The war was over and they were going back to school.  


* * *

"Ne, Wu-chan, you nervous?" Duo asked. The American was bouncing along as the five ex-pilots made their way through the park to the main school buildings.  


Wufei spared him an exasperated look. "We will be transfer students again, with falsified records and obscure histories. We have done this more than 23 times during the last three years."  


"Oooh, you _are_ nervous!" Duo grinned. Since the end of the Mariemeia incident he had made it his mission to taunt Wufei enough to make the Chinese boy feel in place in the reunited team, and he knew the other pilots welcomed his efforts. Then they reached the edge of the park and he felt his eyes getting wider. "Sugoi! This place is huge!"  


Huge was an understatement. Before them, the complex of buildings spread out almost beyond the horizon. What last night had been but a cluster of lights ("Kawaii," Duo had crooned, leaning out of their shared living room's window) now revealed itself in all its towering glory.  


CLAMP campus.  


"Wow," was all Duo could say.  


* * *

Four other figures made their way through the normal eight o'clock CLAMP High School crowd. The three boys were a common sight here - the blond chairman of the high school division on the lookout for something that would keep him from doing paperwork, his blue-haired secretary hell-bent on making him do said paperwork, and the cheerful dark-haired treasurer of the division tagging along to make sure the two got any work done between them and did not forget to eat. But the girl who was almost running to keep up with the blond Nokoru's cheerful pace was both new and famous enough to turn heads; it was not every day that the former Queen of the World enrolled in a school, even one as renowned as the CLAMP academy. Relena was currently drowning in Nokoru's discourse about the highlights of school life.  


"And then there's the festival, that's coming up in just two weeks, with the official dance!" Nokoru's fan snapped open, the kanji on it reading 'music'.  


"That'll be great, Imonoyama-kun," Relena muttered. She started to think that fighting OZ was easier than hearing the heir to the Imonoyama fortune praise the values of the campus. Then she saw five very familiar figures standing at the edge of the morning crowd. She drew her breath, preparing to call to Heero-  


"Quatre-kun!!!" Nokoru yelled. "Over here!"  


"Nokoru-kun!" The shorter blond boy headed their way, with the other ex-pilots in tow. The two groups met in the middle of the corridor, effectively stopping the traffic but paying no heed. Quatre was ecstatic. "Suoh-kun, Akira-kun, so good to see you again!"  


"Quatre-kun, I didn't know you were coming!" Nokoru seemed pleasantly surprised by his friend's appearance. Relena wondered whether they grew those blond boys in a vat somewhere.  


"You would have known, kaichou," Suoh interjected, "If only-"  


"You'd done your paperwork!" Quatre finished for him. "Glad to see things didn't change here! It's been what, four years since I was here? I cannot believe, I feel like I've only left weeks ago..."  


"We missed you," Akira said. "Poker with kaichou is no fun if he can outbid everyone."  


The Arabian was still beaming as he turned towards the ex-pilots. "Guys, those were my best friends in elementary school and junior high - Nokoru Imonoyama, who's supposed to run this division," the blond bowed and snapped open his fan, the kanji reading 'welcome' now, "Suoh Takamura, who makes sure kaichou actually does some work," the blue-haired boy nodded politely, "and Akira Ijyuin, the person who holds this whole place together!" The cheerful black-haired boy grinned at the other group.  


Quatre executed a 180-degrees turn. "And on this side we have Heero Yuy," Heero glared at the CLAMP boys, "Duo Maxwell," the braided pilot smiled and flashed a Victory sign, "Trowa Barton," Trowa looked blank as usual, "and Chang Wufei."  


The Chinese pilot shared a look of sympathy with Suoh. _Blonds_.  


"And this-" Nokoru pointed to Relena.  


"We know her," Heero cut in coldly.  


"It's good to see you again," the girl smiled. "We have to have lunch together again. But I'm afraid I must go now."  


"Why?" Nokoru protested. "Your classes don't start for another hour!"  


"I think I've lost my necklace on campus yesterday," she explained. "I want to go look for it."  


"Oh no!" Nokoru was grinning widely. "We could never allow a lady in distress to go without help! Right, guys?"  


"Yes, kaichou," Suoh and Akira chorused.  


"Uh, that's nice of you..." Relena stuttered.  


"Have no fear, that's what we're here for! CLAMP Campus Detectives, at your service!" The fan snapped open once more, this time reading "mystery". "We shall not rest until your jewel is restored to you!"  


Suoh sighed. "At least he doesn't make us do any choreographed mottos..." he muttered, taking care to keep it out of Nokoru's hearing range - he didn't want to give kaichou any ideas.  


* * *

Duo realized that between Nokoru, Quatre and Relena the developments were not going along to his liking. So he decided to do something uncharacteristically productive and go find his first class. He located the floor plan and quickly understood that the complex system of alphanumerical designations would take quite a bit of getting used to. Still, there was one sure-fire way of finding his way around here...  


"Oi! 'scuse me!"  


"Yes?" The boy he had accosted could very well be mistaken for a girl, with his elfin features and longish black hair. His eyes were sea-green and he wore black gloves with his school uniform.  


"Do you know where room 32A7C is? I have a class there now, I just got here, and this place is _such_ a maze!"  


"On the third floor, to the right of the stairs." The boy hesitated, then asked: "Are you attending the second-level physics course?"  


"Yeah," Duo flashed him one of his patented crazy smiles.  


"So am I..." the other boy shyly smiled back  


"Cool! That means you can tell me all the hot gossip about the school! We'll have a whole class to talk through - c'mon!"  


"But it's physics-" the black-haired boy stuttered as he was being pulled along the corridor by a hyperactive Gundam ex-pilot and trying to avoid being hit in the face with said ex-pilot's braid.  


"So what? Man, if you've got trouble with the stuff I'll be happy to help - I only flunked the test so I wouldn't end up in fourth-level, I mean that quantum stuff gives me _major_ headaches, you wouldn't believe... Oh, and I'm Duo Maxwell."  


"My name is Subaru Sumeragi," the other boy smiled.  


* * *

During lunch break, Heero found himself at Nokoru's table, sitting between a dangerously flashback-inclined Quatre and a decidedly sappy-feeling Relena. Fortunately the Peacecraft's feelings were at the moment directed not at him but at the gallant Nokoru, who was right now assuring her that all the evils in the world couldn't stop the CLAMP Campus Detectives from accomplishing their daring mission - i.e. finding her necklace. Heero wondered where his partner was...  


"DUO-CHAN!! That can't be true!!!"  


"Hokuto-chan, I may run, I may hide, but I _never_ tell a lie! See for yourself!!!"  


Heads turned all around the cafeteria, and Nokoru stopped with his fan half-opened. Come to think of it, all three Detectives looked rather stunned. Finally Akira spoke.  


"Did somebody just match Hokuto Sumeragi in scream volume?"  


Suoh winced at the name.  


"Not somebody," Quatre remarked. "Duo."  


"You know him?" Nokoru demanded.  


"The one with the braid, this morning, remember?"  


"Sou ka."  


"I just hope he doesn't share her other traits," Suoh added, blanching at the thought.  


Heero used the distraction of the conversation to quietly stand up. He was curious about Duo's companions, and he knew that in a moment he would not be able to refrain from revealing to Nokoru that Relena Peacecraft could shriek twice as loud.  


He easily followed the loud argument to a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Duo was engaged in a heated exchange with the female half of a pair of twins. Though both of the American's newly acquired friends were slightly taller than him and slender, and the large green eyes shining from under sable hair gave them a delicate, almost elfin appearance, the girl rivaled Duo in expressive gestures and facial expressions, while her brother quietly picked at his food with gloved hands, eyes demurely lowered though attentive to his companions.  


"Still you gotta admit that-" Duo paused when a familiar shadow fell over the table. He looked up and broke into a wide smile: "Hi Heero!"  


Heero paused for a blink of an eye before nodding at his erstwhile partner.  


"Hi."  


Duo gestured for him to sit down. "Guys, this is my best friend, Heero Yuy!" he said, noting with satisfaction that the way he had introduced him made Heero's face soften momentarily as the other boy took a seat. "Hee-chan, meet Subaru and Hokuto Sumeragi, they're- ITAI!"  


Heero glared at the boy he'd just kicked off the chair. "Don't call me Hee-chan."  


Duo scrambled up and looked quickly at the Sumeragi twins, ready to placate any outrage at Heero's outburst. The whole group seemed frozen for a moment. Then Hokuto reached out and shoved Heero off his chair, which took him so much by surprise that he allowed his body to fall to the ground.  


The black-haired girl smirked at him. Duo prepared to throw himself in front of her to block any deadly attack Heero would choose to retaliate with. He also winced mentally at the number of mortal sins he would be leaving this vale of tears with.   


Heero glared at both of them from his current horizontal position. His fists clenched and Duo offered a silent prayer to Shinigami that the god may take him swiftly and without undue pain.  


A soft sound broke the ominous silence. Three heads turned to focus on a quietly chuckling Subaru, who promptly blushed with embarrassment.  


"Hmph," Heero remarked, allowing his mouth to twist in a mirror image of the green-eyed boy's shy smile. He accepted Hokuto's outstretched hand and stood up, reclaiming his seat. "Now I know why Takamura-kun's so afraid of you."  


"Hohoho!" Hokuto laughed merrily. "He should be! You were lucky compared to what he got!"  


"What happened?" Duo asked.  


"Neesan caught him rifling through her notebooks," Subaru explained. "He said it was some Campus Detectives business, and she put a paralysis spell on him. It was three hours before Imonoyama-sempai found him and two more before he contacted me to disable the spell. Takamura-kun wasn't amused."  


"He deserved it!" Hokuto protested. "Security issues are no excuse to infringe someone's privacy like that! Right, Duo-chan?"  


"Sure they aren't," Duo grinned, looking pointedly at Heero.  


The ex-pilot of Gundam Wing had something else on his mind. "You said a spell?" he asked Subaru.  


"Oh, please forgive me," Subaru said. "I forgot that you're not from Tokyo and you wouldn't know about our family..."  


"What about your family, Subaru-chan?" Duo asked. Heero noted that both his partner and his new friends took the familiarity of the "-chan" for granted.  


"Subaru-chan's the best magician in all Tokyo!" Hokuto announced.  


"Really?" Now Duo was curious too.  


"Actually I'm an onmyouji - I use yin-yang magic," the boy explained. "Our clan has the duty to guard the proper use of the art and take care of side effects like spirits and demons, as well as untrained practitioners."  


"And Subaru-chan's the clan leader," Hokuto added helpfully.  


"Wow, that's so cool!" Duo was obviously thrilled. "Wait a minute... the art's name would be 'onmyoujitsu' then, right? And specializing in warding and spirits? Shiki-something... what was that name..."  


"Shiki-gami," Subaru helpfully supplied. "They're spirits that obey the magician's orders. And you're right about the other things - you seem to know a lot about magic."  


"Oh, I was just doing some research once," Duo laughed. "Read some historical manga with lots of magic. Then I wanted to find out more about a nickname I chose, my callsign."  


"Callsign? You were in the war?" Hokuto asked. "But you're no older than us!"  


"We're from the colonies," Heero said. "It was necessary to fight."  


"Was the war as bad as the TV broadcasts?" Subaru asked.  


"Worse," Heero said quietly.  


Hokuto winced. "We didn't have many of those OZ guys here, but they sure were scary! And then last Christmas, that was _bad_! Right out of the blue! Messed up Subaru-chan's Christmas Eve date, too."  


"Hokuto-chan-" Subaru hissed.  


"Subaru-chan's got a girlfriend?" Duo asked.  


"A boyfriend," Hokuto giggled. "Sei-chan's the best! And sooo romantic!"  


"Ho-Hokuto-chan!!!" Subaru blushed bright red. "It's not like that! Stop teasing me!"  


"Anyway, what _was_ your callsign, Duo-chan?" Hokuto demanded.  


"Oh, just some stupid thing. That's all behind us now, right Heero? War's over and we're free to lead normal lives - speaking of which, I'd like to lead mine in normal clothes from now on. This school uniform's not that bad but I'd like to wear something with more style!"  


"Sugoi! I know just the place for quality shopping! And I'm sure I know the perfect outfits for the two of you!"  


Subaru winced.  


"That bad?" Heero whispered.  


"Worse. Whatever you do, avoid the hat stand."  


Hokuto prattled on, oblivious to the quiet exchange and rattling off addresses of various must-see shops.  


"Hokuto-chan, I can't possibly remember all that!" Duo protested.  


Heero wanted to point out _he_ could but a swift kick to the shin silenced him.  


"I know! I'll go with you tomorrow!" Hokuto was ecstatic at the thought of a whole Saturday spent shopping.  


"Could you? I'd love your help with picking out an outfit for Hee-chan, you wouldn't _believe_ the stuff he used to wear-"  


Heero blanched at the suggestion and completely forgot to take offence at being called Hee-chan. Subaru shot him a look of sympathy, then decided to intervene.  


"Hokuto-chan, the family balances your credit cards and running tab at Kenzo, but Duo-kun and Heero-kun are from the colonies... uh, you know..." Subaru stuttered.  


"No problem!" Duo grinned. "Someone owes me money."  


"Who?" Heero asked.  


"Remember that time when you... uh, after Siberia? Me and Quatre had nothing to do for a while, and we played poker a lot. I always bet an hour of total silence on my part and he bet me an all-expenses-paid shopping trip at one shop."  


"And you won." Heero stated.  


"Sure did! And to facilitate things, we'll bring Q-man and Trowa along too!"  


"And I'll pick out things for them," Hokuto added. Both she and Duo cackled evilly.  


* * *

Notes: Christmas Eve is a bit like Valentine's Day in Japan, and the day of choice to propose to your sweetheart. I kinda gathered Seishirou would have invited Subaru somewhere, and then of course the Eve Wars broke out... poor Sei-chan!  


In the next chapter: There's a ghost in the swimming pool! Will Subaru and Heero be able to help the wretched soul? And just what will they discuss as they wait for it to appear? Find out! 


	2. To drown your sorrows


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER TWO: To Drown Your Sorrows 

mini-dictionary:  


shinto - official Japanese religion; polytheistic with deification of spirits (particularly ancestors and heroes)  
sakura - cherry; cherry tree; cherry blossom  
onmyoujitsu - yin-yang magic  
sou ka - "I see"  
onmyouji - a master of onmyoujitsu  
mitsu-in - mystic gesture; what is called 'mudra' in Sanskrit  
ofuda - piece of paper with mystical symbols on it; used to cast spells, especially wards and attacks  
neesan - older sister  


* * *

The last lesson of the day was finally over, and Heero scowled at the back of the Arts teacher, then quickly fell into stone-face mode as said teacher turned towards him. Luckily it was Subaru, sitting right next to him, that had apparently caught the teacher's attention.  


"Sumeragi-kun, have you completed the homework assignment I gave you?" The teacher's face was much less stern than when he'd preached about the evils of western art invading the purity of traditional Japanese lines.  


"Yes sensei, I've got it right here," Subaru said as he opened his backpack. He opened a sketchbook and took out a spectacular drawing.  


It was the famous Yasukuni shinto shrine in all its glory, drawn with simple black ink. Subaru had been precise in depicting the elegant lines of the shrine itself, but his real skill showed in the delicate rendition of sakura trees surrounding the temple. Beyond the traditional building, five figures rose, vaguely human-shaped. Heero's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the sword and wings of one of them, the bat wings and scythe of another, scimitars held by the third one. The last two were partially hidden by the trees, but he knew their outlines as well as the lines on the palm of his own hand. Subaru had used a different way of drawing, watering down his ink and barely suggesting the deadly strength of the statues of the five Mobile Suits. _Oh heroes who have laid down your lives for our motherland, hear our prayers..._  


"Very good, Sumeragi-kun." the teacher said softly. "That takes care of your grade for last semester. I look forward to having you in class this term, hopefully more often."  


"Thank you sensei."  


The teacher left and Subaru started to pack his books. Suddenly a hand snatched the picture.  


"That's real good."  


"Eep!" Subaru winced and dropped his physics handbook - all nine hundred pages of it - on his left hand. "Ouch!"  


"You all right?" Heero asked.  


"Subaru held his injured fingers and tried to keep the tears from falling. "You scared me. I didn't hear you get up..."  


"Here, let me see." Heero took hold of Subaru's gloved hand. "No bones broken, but you might have bruises." He started to slip the glove off.  


"No!" Subaru snatched his hand back, then noticed Heero's startlement. "Sorry - I'm so sorry! I'm alright, really. I just - my grandmother said I should never take my gloves off in front of others. It's an onmyoujitsu thing."  


"Sou ka." Heero seemed to consider it as they exited the classroom.  


"Magic is a great responsibility," the black-haired boy continued. "I cannot be careless about it in any way. My duty is to help others."  


Duty. Ninmu. Mission.  


...  


"Sumeragi-kun! Sumeragi-kun!"  


The boys turned to see two girls in CLAMP Junior-High uniforms running towards them. When they caught up, it took them several seconds to get their breath back.  


"Utako-chan, Nagisa-chan, what is it?" Subaru asked.  


"There's all sorts of weird noises in the girls' locker room at the swimming pool," said the black-haired girl Subaru had called Utako. "We think it might be Rei-chan..."  


"Rei was the girl who fainted and drowned there two weeks ago, right?" Subaru demanded.  


"Yes, and the sounds are coming from her locker! We're all sorry for her, but- Is there something you can do?"  


"It shouldn't be too hard," Subaru smiled. "If you'll excuse me, Heero-kun."  


"Can I come with you?" Heero asked.  


Subaru was pleasantly surprised. "If you can spare the time..."  


* * *

After pointing out the deceased girl's locker, Utako and Nagisa took off rather quickly. Subaru closed his eyes and concentrated. Heero was silent, immobile, only his gaze following his companion's hands as they moved through a complicated series of mitsu-in.  


Finally the onmyouji sighed and sat down on a bench, propping his head on his hands. "The girls were right, it _is_ Rei. Her soul is restless, but I cannot determine the reason - I will have to hear it from her. All we can do right now is wait until she appears again," he said.  


They sat in silence. For about ten seconds.  


"Heero-kun, do you - have you ever had a friend that you thought was - more?"  


Heero considered this. "Yes."  


"And - when you realized this, what did you do then?"  


"I tried to let my feelings be known."  


"Did that solve things?"  


"Not quite," the brown-haired boy shrugged. "He's got some misconceptions for some reason."  


"He?!" Subaru blushed, then laughed. "Well, I'm not amazed, what with the way you treat him-" he winked "-_Hee-chan_."  


Heero's hand shot out with the clear intent of pushing his companion off the bench, but the green-eyed boy was faster. He ducked the shove, laughing heartily. The ex-pilot found his face twisting into a smile as well.  


"Seriously, are you two together?" Subaru asked after getting his breath back, then promptly blushed. "Oh - forgive me if I'm too nosy..."  


"We were," Heero said curtly. "Not anymore."  


He remembered that moment very clearly. The celebrations after the final battle had lasted well into the night, and the clock had struck two hours past midnight by the time Heero managed to detach himself from Relena. He had gone straight to his and Duo's quarters, only to see the other boy packing up his belongings.  


'You have your princess now,' Duo had explained. 'You don't need a loudmouthed brat like me.'  


Heero had wanted to protest, but the sudden tightness in his throat - tightness, he had realized, induced by equal parts anger and despair - had prevented him from uttering a word. Before he got his breath back, the American had his hand on the doorknob. Then his lover - ex-lover, Heero had reminded himself - turned and swiftly brushed his lips over the Japanese boy's cheek.  


'I want you to know one thing,' the Deathscythe pilot hissed. 'I've had great fun.'  


He had been gone the next moment. The next time Heero saw him had been a year later, when the Mariemeia crisis erupted. They had maintained a facade of friendship, but he could well see an underlying uncharacteristic bitterness in Duo's behavior.  


"Not because I wanted it to end," Heero continued softly, talking more to himself than Subaru. "He's just got it into his head that Relena's the one for me."  


"I saw the way Duo looks at you," Subaru noted. "I think you have a chance still, but you're in a tangle now." He sighed. "Saa, I'm the one to talk."  


"You mean that so-called boyfriend of yours?"  


"I don't know whether Seishirou-san _is_ my boyfriend, and that's the problem." Subaru shrugged, blushing slightly. "He's always joking about it with Neesan, but then there are times when he looks at me, and I'm suddenly out of breath... And he's so much older than me, almost nine years..."  


"Know him long?"  


"Close to a year now. We have so much in common... he's a veterinarian, and I want to become one too. We can talk and talk for hours - and he doesn't mind the magic thing. He even helps me sometimes... I feel like he understands me, completely. It's a rare feeling."  


"I'm no relationship genius," Heero said quietly. "All I can say is follow your feelings. Talk to him."  


"And you should talk to Duo." Subaru's green eyes looked him seriously. "Tell him about _your_ feelings."  


"We'll both tell. Deal?"  


"Deal." Subaru hooked his little finger through Heero's. They smiled at each other.  


Suddenly soft wet footsteps echoed through the locker room. Both boys turned at a patch of seemingly empty space.  


"Om Sanmaji Handomei Kiriku," Subaru intoned, taking a sheaf of ofuda from his pocket.  


"Om Sanmaji Handomei Kiriku..." He shaped his hands in a triangle mitsu-in.  


"Rin. Pyo." His voice picked up in volume.  


"Tou. Sha. Kai. Chin. Retsu. Zai."  


The last word was a command that could not be disobeyed. "Zen!"  


As the syllable fell from his lips, the air coalesced into a semi-transparent figure of a girl. No older than thirteen, her blond hair plastered against her head by the same imaginary pool water that made her swimsuit glisten. Her skin pale with a blue tinge. She approached the locker Utako had pointed out as the source of the sounds and attempted to open it, dismayed when the lock wouldn't give.  


"Hello Rei-chan," Subaru said. "What are you doing?"  


The ghost turned her haunted brown eyes towards him. "It won't open," she complained.  


"Why do you want to open it?" the young onmyouji asked patiently.  


"I think... I need to leave. I _want_ to leave. There's people waiting for me, I can hear them but-" she gestured to her swimsuit "-I can't, I _mustn't_ go out like that!"  


Subaru was visibly perplexed. "Your clothes aren't here, Rei-chan. You don't need them anymore. You can go as you are - I can help you to get to the other side."  


"But I can't go out without clothes!"  


"No-one will see you," Subaru persuaded.  


"I will... good girls don't go around without clothes... good girls are nice..." she sobbed. "I won't... I won't shame... no shame to my family... I'm a good girl..."  


Subaru's face expressed his dismay.  


"It'll be a shame..." she muttered.  


"No it won't," Heero said. He stepped beside Subaru. "You've left it all behind now. You're not a good girl, or a bad one, or a shame or pride anymore. You can do as you want - as your heart tells you. If you want to leave, then go."  


"He's right," Subaru added. "You are nothing but yourself - nothing more and nothing less."  


The spirit looked at them through her tears. "Nothing but myself..." she whispered. "Then, Sumeragi-sempai... I, myself, want to leave." She smiled softly.  


"As you wish." Subaru smiled back. He put his hands together as if in prayer, but with the index fingers extended and touching. "Om Bazara Dharma Kiri Sohaka."  


Rei's spirit-body glowed, but the light was flickering and would not rise about a certain intensity. Subaru frowned and bit his lip.  


"Om Bazara Dharma Kiri Sohaka..." Drops of sweat appeared on the boy's brow as he gathered his energy. "Om Bazara Dharma Kiri Sohaka..." Still no effect. Subaru trembled slightly under the strain.  


"Exorcizo te, spiritus, in nomine Dei omnipotentis, et in nomine Mesach et Abedingo et in nomine aeternam Aphriel Diefriel, Caratium, Adeo, Mora et Manasseo, ut descedas ab hoc terra Dei." Heero's voice was quiet but sure. "Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat ei."  


The girl's form flashed an almost blinding light. She began to fade.  


"It's so beautiful," she whispered. "White feathers... Thank you..."  


The two boys were alone in the locker room. Subaru slumped against a wall. Tired green eyes looked up at Heero.  


"How did you know to cast that spell?"  


"I don't know," the ex-pilot shrugged. "It was just what I had to do." Magic is a great responsibility...  


The door opened and Utako popped her head into the room. "Is it over?"  


"Yes," Heero answered for the dazed Subaru. He helped the black-haired boy out of the room. "See you, Utako-chan."  


"Bye Yuy-kun, Sumeragi-kun!" the girl grinned. "And thanks!"  


"Let's find Duo and Hokuto-chan," Heero said. "Their history class should be over by now."  


* * *

"Subaru-chan, what happened?" Duo immediately took hold of the Sumeragi's other arm, taking some of the weight off Heero. His partner quickly outlined the events of the past hour.  


"How can you be so thoughtless, Subaru!" Hokuto fumed. "You haven't recovered after your last investigation, you should know better than to overextend yourself like this!"  


"You're too thin, too," Heero remarked. "That's why you get tired so quickly."  


Subaru shot him a betrayed look.  


"Oh, he's hopeless!" Hokuto exclaimed as the group headed towards the subway station. "Sei-chan and I try to make him eat regularly, but he's always rushing somewhere, one job after another."  


"Now that's stupid." Duo smiled to lessen the sting of the insult. "You barely touched lunch today too - believe me, food wasn't put on Earth to be scorned!"  


"I try..." Subaru protested.  


"Just don't take Duo's example too seriously," Heero smirked. "With the amounts he eats, I'm surprised he isn't spherical yet."  


"Hey, I need the energy!" Duo grinned. "Especially with your tendency to knock me around... _Hee-chan_."  


Hokuto elbowed Heero's side before the boy could react. "Behave, Heero-kun!"  


They found themselves at the stairs to the station.  


"So it's nine a.m. tomorrow at Shinjuku subway station, right?" Duo asked.  


"I'll be there!" Hokuto assured him and then hugged him within an inch of his life.  


Hero and Subaru nodded at each other before Hokuto dragged her brother down the stairs and into the train just before the doors shut.  


Duo waved at the siblings, then looked at his partner.  


"I guess you'll want to find Relena now..."  


"There's a free-for-all basketball tournament in thirty minutes from now," Heero remarked casually.  


Duo's violet eyes widened. Without thinking, he threw his arms around Heero's shoulders. He stiffened as he realized what he had done, but then strong arms hugged him back, tightly, before Heero freed himself. "The court's that way."  


The braided boy grinned savagely. "Let's go and wipe the floor with anyone who dares to challenge the Perfect Soldier and Shinigami!"  


* * *

* * *

End-of-chapter notes:   
This is the part where the fic _really_ got out of control. I wanted Duo and Subaru to become friends, but I left the idea to boil overnight, and the next thing I knew Hokuto and Shinigami were plotting fashion mayhem while Heero advised Subaru on his love life! Then suddenly Heero developed magic on me, and Duo did something even weirder (wait and see)...  


The Yasukuni shrine is a real place in Tokyo, and a very famous one, both for its war memorial and its sakura trees. It is dedicated to the spirits of those who died fighting for Japan. Official site  
Nagisa and Utako are characters from "CLAMP Campus Detectives" (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) and "Twenty Masks" (20 Mensou), all rights reserved by CLAMP  
Both onmyoujitsu spells in this chapter are taken verbatim from the first volume of Tokyo Babylon as transcribed by Ronny Hedin and found at Sakurazuka Val's page.  
The first sentence of Heero's spell is a Latin exorcism mixed with some Kaballah stuff from an old manuscript I found online (literally "I exorcize thee, ghost, in the name of yadda yadda, that you be gone from this God's Earth"), and the second one's simply "May the Lord allow him to rest in peace, and may the light eternal shine on him", likewise in Latin. I couldn't find any equivalent in Japanese, and I always say it's the will, not the words *massive sweatdrop* As for just why he was able to cast the spell, you'll have to wait... till chapter five at least ^_^  


In the next chapter: Will Quatre's credit rating survive Hokuto's rampage? Will Heero let Duo call him Hee-chan as a token of his true feelings? Will Duo get a clue? And who exactly _is_ Seishirou Sakurazuka? Find out in Chapter 3: Haute Couture!  



	3. Haute couture


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER 3: Haute Couture 

Quatre blinked in the strong sunlight as they emerged from the Shinjuku subway station. He hoped this shopping trip wouldn't be too bad - Suoh had seen it fit to tell him select horror stories about Hokuto and her shopping habits.  


"Oi! Duo-chan!!" Heads turned all over the street at the yell. Then people's eyes stayed riveted to a figure dressed in something as far away from a school uniform as possible without the use of illegal substances or alien technology, as said figure made her way towards the ex-pilots.  


Hokuto Sumeragi glittered. She was wearing a short knitted top of bright gold thread and white leather pants. She had chosen to compliment it with a cream-colored jacket trimmed with fake fur and gold oak-leaf pins in her black hair. The dazzling apparition hugged Duo tightly, careful not to injure him with her enormous gold-tinted sunglasses.  


"Hokuto-chan, you look stunning!" Duo remarked. "Where'd you get those sunglasses?"  


"Oh, we'll go there, don't worry!" She smiled at him, then put her hands on her hips and tried her best to look stern. "Now behave and introduce me!"  


"Guys, this is Hokuto Sumeragi. And those are Quatre Winner and-"  


"Trowa Barton," the tall boy interrupted him, holding out his hand to the vision in gold. "Nice to meet you."  


The girl shook his hand, her grip strong and sure. "How do you feel about velvet?" she asked suddenly.  


Trowa managed to wordlessly convey his surprise at this turn of conversation.  


"I can _just_ see you in emerald velvet, a poet shirt maybe, open collar and sandalwood beads around your neck..." Hokuto mused, eyeing him speculatively. "And a brown leaf pattern, sort of spiky, to compliment your hair. Think Tarzan meets Byron. But I like the jeans - I think we'll keep them!" She beamed.  


Heero snorted at Trowa's look of abject terror, then instantly regretted it as the girl turned towards him, a wicked gleam of fashion-plotting in her green eyes.  


"For you I was thinking black mesh T-shirt," she announced authoritatively. Heero was suddenly glad he had opted for the school uniform instead of his usual tanktop-and-spandex ensemble that might have just caused a heart attack to the trend queen.  


"Knee-high boots," Hokuto added.  


"With buckles on them," Duo interjected.  


"Black jeans, blue shirt."   


"Silk." The braided boy looked like he was enjoying this.  


"But of course."  


"Black jacket. Armani?"  


"Versace." Hokuto stalked around Heero. "Definitely Versace."  


Quatre's chuckle was silenced under the full power of the Yuy Death Glare.  


* * *

Five hours later, four ex-pilots and one fashion maniac sat in the open garden of a trendy café. Finally even Hokuto had admitted to having had enough shopping for one day, although not before she pronounced each of the boys as suitably outfitted for the next two days, i.e. having bought about half a wardrobe-full each. Quatre's credit card was lighter by about three thousand dollars.  


Duo regarded his friends and realized that he had never seen them so relaxed. Trowa was lounging in the farmost chair, listening with one ear to Quatre and Hokuto discussing the Tokyo real estate market, but his eyes were on the scruffy white feral cat that was sunbathing among the flowers on the other side of the street. Quatre had abandoned his serene facade and gesticulated in true Arab fashion as he explained the influence of Brazilian crops on per-meter rents in shops in Ginza. Heero fidgeted with the knot of the new bandana tied around his neck. Duo kicked him under the table - the American had chosen that strip of twilight-blue silk himself, captivated by the way the fabric complimented his partner's eyes. Not to mention the fact its matching companion was twined in Duo's braid, providing a flash of color against the black military-style jacket Hokuto had chosen for him.  


"Stop that, Heero," he admonished. "It looks fine."  


"It's too tight," Heero growled.  


"Here, let me-"  


As Duo reached over to his partner, a commotion rose in the street. A small girl had chased a runaway balloon into the traffic, and a black Honda Acura swerved in a desperate attempt to avoid the careless child, its brakes squealing. It went on the sidewalk across the street, sending the feral cat flying into the air. The feline landed heavily by the little girl, one of its hind legs hanging limp. Both child and animal could only stare wide-eyed as the Acura rebounded off the walls of the houses and headed back their way, slowing quickly but not quickly enough.  


When Trowa's chair clattered to the floor, the tall boy was already running towards the child. He took a leap off the sidewalk, rolling as he grabbed the girl and the cat. The car's screeching wheels passed only inches from his head.  


"Yuzu-chan! Yuzu-chan!" A harried-looking young woman was by them in the next instant, hugging the child. From the similarities of their faces it was clear she was the girl's mother.  


Hokuto and the three ex-pilots were there only seconds later.  


"She's alright, just scared," the girl assured the woman. "But you should pay more attention to your daughter! Little children shouldn't be allowed to run around unsupervised."  


"Easy, Hokuto-chan," Duo placated her. "Everyone's alright and that's what matters."  


"Not everyone," Trowa said. "The cat's leg is broken. We should take it to a veterinarian." He picked up the little feline and moved away from the center of the commotion - now joined by the car's driver, employees from the café and random passers-by.  


"Great," Quatre sighed. "Now how will we find a good vet here?" He knew better than to argue with Trowa when an animal was in question. Besides, the cat _was_ cute.  


"That's easy!" Hokuto exclaimed. "We'll take it to Sei-chan's clinic." She hesitated. "Though that way we won't get to visit Tokyo Tower... Trowa-kun, Quatre-kun, can you live without it?"  


Heero took the dazed feline from Trowa's arms. "We'll take it to the clinic. You go along. We'll meet you back at the campus."  


"Hey, thanks!" Quatre smiled. "I can never get enough of the view from the Tower! I haven't been there in ages!"  


"Do you know where the clinic is?" Hokuto asked.  


"Yes, Subaru-kun told me. Come on, Duo."  


* * *

The Sakurazuka veterinary clinic was spacious and sunny, furnished in surgical white and elegant peach. The receptionist asked the boys to wait until Dr Sakurazuka could receive them, but before they could sit down, the door opened. Green eyes brightened at their sight and Subaru all but threw himself at his friends.  


"Duo-chan, Heero-kun! What are you-" His eyes alighted on the animal in Heero's arms. "Oh you poor thing! Come, Seishirou-san has just finished with his last patient."  


The ex-pilots followed the Sumeragi's lithe form through the corridors. Finally they entered a well-lit office which opened into the main clinic - walls lined with large and luxurious animal cages. The only furniture in the main office was a large oak desk, uncluttered apart from several perfectly-aligned piles of paper.  


The young man behind the desk was filling out paperwork when they came in. He ran a slim hand through wavy black hair as he looked up at them. His golden eyes shone warmly at the black-haired boy leading the trio.  


Heero would have pinned him at about twenty-six. He knew from Subaru that he was barely a year off the mark. He made a mental note not to underestimate this man because of the friendly impression he had around him.  


Heero heard Duo take a sharp breath behind him, but before he could pay attention to his partner, the man in front of him spoke.  


"Hello, Subaru-kun," Seishirou Sakurazuka smiled. His voice was smooth and exceedingly polite. Standing up, he towered almost a head over Subaru, and even more over the shorter ex-pilots. "And your friends are?"  


Heero paused for a moment, then realized that Duo would not make the introductions. He quelled an urge to turn around and see what was wrong with his partner. "I'm Heero Yuy," he said instead. "And this is Duo Maxwell."  


"Subaru-kun's new friends, I see! He has told me much about you. My name is Seishirou Sakurazuka. And to what do I owe this pleasure?"  


Heero wordlessly held out the cat. It had calmed considerably, and its leg had been temporarily bandaged with Quatre's tie (Duo having vehemently protested the use of Heero's bandana for that purpose).  


Seishirou swiftly relieved him of his furry burden. "The leg's broken cleanly, no splinters," he pronounced after a quick examination. "It shouldn't pose problems healing. What happened?"  


"It got hit by a car," Duo explained. His voice was quiet but with an edge to it that Heero associated with "battle-mode".  


"I'll go get the paperwork for admitting it," Subaru offered. "I'm afraid we bypassed Miss Mizuno on our way in. Come with me, Heero-kun?"  


After a last curious glance at the American, Heero followed the black-haired boy back into the reception room. They acquired the appropriate forms and settled down to fill them in.  


"What do you think about Seishirou-san?" Subaru asked.  


"He's good for you. Your face lights up when he looks at you." Heero neglected to mention his partner's strange behavior upon meeting Dr Sakurazuka, but looked deep into his friend's green eyes. "Did you tell him about your feelings for him?"  


Subaru blushed. "Not- not yet. Did you?"  


"Tell Duo? No opportunity yet. Nokoru-kun was hunting for Relena's necklace all evening long."  


The black-haired boy mused over one of the forms. "Who is paying for the cat's treatment?"  


Heero took the paper from him and quickly filled in Quatre's credit card details. "A friend," he snorted.  


"By the way, I was meaning to ask you about that exorcism you used yesterday," the Sumeragi began.  


Blue eyes fixed the other boy with a dispassionate stare. "It was nothing. Don't mention it, please." Heero finished the last of the forms and gathered them together.  


"Alright..." Subaru said uneasily, standing up.  


* * *

When they came in, Seishirou was finishing bandaging the cat's legs. Duo was by his side, holding the animal's head in place and cooing soothingly. He turned to greet them cheerfully, then yelped and turned back, revealing a small striped kitten that had just attacked his braid.  


"Oi, little one, this isn't a toy!" Duo scolded the kitten as he picked it up and scratched its forehead. The small feline purred delightedly.  


Seishirou plucked the animal from Duo's arms, brushing casually against the boy's chest. Heero felt his throat tighten in anger, then noted that Duo hadn't cringed as before - was indeed acting like his usual bouncy self.  


"I'd better put this guy back in his cage," the tall man remarked. "He's recently recovered from a nasty cold - I'm surprised he has so much energy to play."  


"You can't keep a wicked soul down," Duo quipped.  


Heero smirked. "Sounds like someone I know."  


The American blew him a raspberry, then flinched at the glare he got in return and hid behind Seishirou.  


"That's it for today," the veterinarian said. "Subaru-kun, I believe I promised you coffee - how does Ueno Park sound to you?"  


Subaru nodded happily.  


"Hey, isn't that where the festival's supposed to be today?" Duo failed to notice Heero shaking his head and continued. "I'd love to see it!"  


Heero shot Subaru an apologetic look. They sighed in unison and hurried after the other two, who were currently disputing the merits and faults of mint chocolate-chip ice-cream as opposed to chocolate-chip vanilla, and which booth in Ueno sold the best.  


* * *

* * *

Notes:   
I have absolutely no idea who came up with the phrase "Yuy Death Glare" - please tell me so I can grovel and ask for permission to use...  
I know there aren't supposed to be gardens in Tokyo cafés, at least according to my guidebook... Let's pretend this café offers a unique experience - the chance to be jostled by pedestrians as you sip and spill your twice-as-expensive trendy coffee.  
The girl Trowa saved is Yuzuriha Nekoi - later appearing in CLAMP's X/1999, which would make her five years old here. Car accident advice: hit the brakes until the wheels block, yes - but then let go of them and maneuver; that way both you and the pedestrians have a better chance.  
Tokyo Tower: yes, that red Eiffel Tower look-alike. Opened on March of Shouwa 33 (1958 AD), it is 333 meters high, annual number of visitors around 3,000,000 Ueno Park is likewise real, and very important in the Tokyo Babylon story. You'll get to see it in chapter five.  


* * *

In the next chapter: Back on campus -- will Nokoru accomplish his mission to retrieve Relena's necklace? How will our heroes face the grave dangers of this mission? And why is Wufei in charge of planning?? Find out in Gundam Babylon Chapter 4: Operation Necklace.  



	4. Operation necklace


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER FOUR: Operation Necklace 

Mini-dictionary:  
kaichou - chairman  
shinai - bamboo practice sword  


* * *

When Quatre and Trowa arrived on campus they were immediately accosted by an uncharacteristically serious Akira.  


"Kaichou wants to see you immediately," he informed them.  


The ex-pilots shared a blank look and followed the boy into the maze of the main building's basement. They were taken several levels underground. The walls of the corridors were damp and adorned with a tangle of pipes and cables, all of them glistening in the light of Akira's torchlight.  


"If this is another hare-brained scheme of Nokoru-kun's..." Quatre muttered to himself. Akira hissed at him to be quiet.  


Then arrived at a large double door that opened silently as soon as they stopped before it. The large room was mostly dark, with the only light coming from a lamp above a table strewn with maps of the campus. Four figures hovered around the table while the fifth one paced along the border of shadows and light.  


"So we have determined the route that the victim had taken on the day of the incident," the pacing figure stated, oblivious to the newcomers behind its back. "The only course of action left to us is to search this territory with the greatest zeal, leaving not a single stone unturned." The man gestured dramatically with something that could have been a pencil or a closed fan. "I beseech you, men-"  


A loud "Ahem!" escaped from one of the shorter figures.  


"-and ladies," the speaker continued smoothly, "to exercise the greatest effort now. Our honor depends upon your ability to recover the object and punish the perpetrator, if such one can be found. I hereby pronounce the status of Operation Necklace as active!"  


"Operation Necklace?" Quatre asked incredulously.  


The mysterious figure yelped in surprise and whirled around. While doing so, he stumbled over the table and crashed to the floor. Everyone hurried to help him.  


"Clumsy me," Nokoru grinned sheepishly as Suoh dragged him to his feet. "Anyway, Quatre-kun, what do you think of the plans?" He gestured to the papers on the table.  


Trowa was already leafing through them, and the Arabian joined him, then startled when he recognized the handwriting. "Wufei? He's in on this?"  


"Of course I am, Winner," the Chinese boy said from the shadows. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."  


"Actually Suoh-sempai insisted that at least one sane person drafted the plans," Akira explained.  


"So I'm not sane?" This came from the same figure who had interrupted Nokoru's speech earlier.  


Trowa shot an enquiring look at his blond friend.  


"Please forgive me," Quatre said. "Trowa Barton, meet Utako and Nagisa."  


"Hi!" Utako grinned at the quiet boy. Nagisa just smiled politely and nodded.  


"This," Quatre returned his attention to the plans, "is quite good... except for this, this, this and this." He snatched a pencil from the table and implemented his changes. "I see you've already checked out the offices and dormitory, which leaves the park, the cafeteria and the gym. We can begin immediately."  


"Not quite," Suoh remarked. "I think you'd better change first."  


Quatre was puzzled. "Why? I thought street clothes were allowed on campus?"  


"Street clothes, yes. You look like something out of one of Hokuto Sumeragi's fashion catalogues."  


Trowa glared at the snickering Wufei, but realized that it was hard to look threatening in a half-open jungle-pattern velvet shirt.  


* * *

"03, this is 04," Quatre whispered into his cellphone as he skulked around the park. "I am in position and executing the search. Agent Chief and Agent N are with me."  


Agent Chief, formerly known as Nokoru, literally bounced with excitement, though careful not to dislodge his enormous sunglasses. Nagisa aka Agent N was more subdued, and currently searching for tracks in the grass.  


"Understood," Trowa's voice drifted through the link. "Barton out."  


"Relena came through here from the subway station," Quatre continued after replacing his cellphone. "I suggest we start from this end, then progress towards the school."  


"And look for clues," Nokoru grinned. This was going to be _so_ much fun...  


* * *

"Barton out," Trowa finished and shut off his own cellphone. He turned to Akira. "Any luck?"  


The black-haired boy was currently inspecting the underside of a cafeteria table, so Utako answered for him: "Not yet."  


* * *

Wufei and Suoh shut the door to the gym after them and sighed with relief. They had the place to themselves. The Chinese boy silently thanked the gods that though his ploy to extricate both of them from Nokoru's investigation had not escaped Quatre, the Arabian had done nothing to interfere with it.  


"I hope you were not mistaken when you assessed Quatre's competence," Suoh said. "I don't want anything to happen to Kaichou."  


"Relax," Wufei advised. "Quatre was a Gundam pilot. He can take care of himself and civilians alike."  


Suoh regarded him warily, then approached the sword display and picked up a shinai. "Do you fence?" he asked.  


Wufei walked to his own locker and took out his katana. "Yes. But I prefer real weapons."  


Suoh nodded and chose a straight sword instead. They took the ceremonial kendo stances and bowed to each other.  


* * *

Agents 04, N and Chief were at a loss. They had all but combed the grass in all places that Relena could remember visiting on Thursday. Finally Nokoru noticed movement in the treetops.  


"A magpie nest!" he cried. "Of course!"  


He set off to climb the tree, but was halted by a hesitant Quatre.  


"Are you sure you'll manage?" the Arabian asked.  


"No problem! I'm not as clumsy as I used to be."  


"I sure hope so..." Quatre muttered, remembering a certain football game that had ended with two broken fingers, one sprained ankle and a concussion - all of them to the kaichou. Nagisa just shook her head, and they both stood back as Nokoru nimbly climbed up to the suspect nest. He sat with his back against the tree trunk and gently browsed through the offended nestlings. At last he shook his head.  


"I don't think it's-"  


"Caw! Caw! CAW!!" A furious blur of black and white approached the nest at breakneck speed. The magpie attacked the blond intruder with its beak and wings, and all the boy could do was to cover his head.  


"Oi, magpie-san! Watch it! Oh, not the hair!!" Nokoru was all but screeching.  


"Imonoyama-sempai!" Nagisa called out. "You must get away from the nest!"  


"Easier... said... than... done!" he gasped.  


He was already balanced precariously on the branch when a second ball of feathered fury joined the fray. Frantic corvid cries filled the air, and the blond boy flailed around for anything to hold on to. His hands closed on empty air.  


"Nokoru!!" Quatre cried.  


The kaichou landed on the ground with a decidedly ungraceful thud. The ex-pilot was by his side in the next moment, checking him for injuries.  


"Just a bump on your head," he finally decided.  


"It feels like I've been hit by a brick," Nokoru complained quietly. "But at least I guess we can count the magpies out."  


"Why did you suspect them anyway?" Quatre asked.  


"Just a hunch!" the other blonde grinned. "I guess my intuition is not working today."  


* * *

Meanwhile Akira was gingerly inspecting the contents of a fridge that looked as if it could very well have been built - and stocked for the first and only time - under the shogunate.  


"The necklace can't be there!" Utako protested.  


"It might have fallen somewhere," Akira remarked. "And I didn't even know the cafeteria _had_ black truffles!"  


"Akira-kun, you're-!" The girl stomped her foot.  


"The word is 'airhead'," Trowa supplied from his position on the floor. "Where does this cable go?"  


Utako could not help but think that her companions were not too concentrated on finding Relena's bauble.  


"I think-" Akira joined the ex-pilot in the maze of cables that was the stockroom floor "-that it should go in here..."  


He carelessly put his finger on the uninsulated socket. He had forgotten that his hand was still damp from touching the mysterious wares in the antique refrigerator.  


The lights went out with a sizzle. In the darkness silence reigned for a few minutes, then a muted moan echoed through the chamber.  


"Akira-kun, are you alright?" Utako whispered urgently.  


"I- I think so." The black-haired boy's voice was trembling. "Where's the light switch?"  


"Here." Trowa turned said switch on, flooding the room with a harsh white luminance that revealed a frazzled Akira with black hair standing on ends in a close approximation of a dandelion clock.  


* * *

The sound of clashing metal filled the gym. Both opponents were breathing a bit faster than usual, but otherwise unaffected by their match.  


Then Wufei's tactic changed. He doubled his assault, backing Suoh into a corner. The blue-haired boy felt the wall behind his back.  


"Playing for keeps now?" he asked, unperturbed.  


"Maybe."  


Suoh jumped about six feet into the air, then planted a foot against the wall and pushed himself away, turning a somersault in mid-air and landing behind Wufei. Completing the movement, he attacked without pausing, aiming his sword at his adversary's throat.  


The Chinese boy's katana was there to meet it.  


The ex-pilot's dark eyes regarded him with renewed curiosity and respect as he parried and returned the slash. "You're a ninja," he stated.  


"Yes."  


Wufei smiled slightly. "Good. It will be an honor to defeat you."  


"Don't-" Suoh drove his elbow into the other boy's side while ducking his blade "-be too sure about it!"  


"As Maxwell says," Wufei pinned Suoh's sword to the ground with his foot, then turned the force of the blue-haired boy's kick into a graceful roll. "Let the best man win." He stood up again, katana at the ready.  


* * *

The first group kept walking through the park. Nokoru was still rubbing his injured head while Quatre put his tactical sense to the problem at hand.  


"We've eliminated the probability of the necklace being lost on campus. Therefore it's either been stolen or taken by someone," he mused aloud.  


"What is the difference, Quatre-sempai?" Nagisa asked.  


"Someone might have taken it after Relena dropped it, maybe a small child who did not know what it was doing-"  


"A small girl with a liking for beauty, who only wanted to have something pretty of her own!" Nokoru continued.  


"And it would have to be a girl that passes through here often," Quatre completed.  


Just then they saw a child - a little blonde girl - sitting under a tree.  


Nokoru turned to his fellow agents. "Do you think-?"  


"Do you know who she is?" Quatre asked.  


"Kotori Monou," Nokoru and Nagisa chorused. The boy continued: "She's seven years old and in the second grade of CLAMP elementary school. She lives in the Togakushi Shrine in Tokyo with her parents and older brother. Her father is the priest of the shrine. She likes birds and pretty things, and she is often shy but very kind."  


"Kaichou, you _still_ know everything about every female on campus!" Quatre laughed.  


Nagisa approached the child. "Hello, Kotori-chan."  


"Nagisa-san, hello!" The blonde girl smiled sweetly.  


"This is Quatre Winner. He wants to ask you some questions."  


Quatre shot the black-haired girl a dirty look. "Hello. Were you here on Thursday afternoon?"  


"Yes..."  


"Have you seen a necklace someone lost?"  


"Necklace?"  


"Yes, a silver necklace with a single emerald. Did you see it?"  


"I..."  


"Did you pick it up?" Any of the Gundam pilots would have recognized the 'on-duty' look on the Arabian's face. Then they would look for Zero-system antidotes...  


"I-I..." Kotori stuttered.  


"Are you _sure_?"  


The girl was close to tears now. Nokoru approached the two in order to temper Quatre's interrogation, but only succeeded in intercepting a rock heading towards the ex-pilot. He went down, clutching his head once again.  


"Kaichou!!" Quatre and Nagisa called out.  


A maniacal laughter echoed through the park. They turned to see a boy of about Kotori's age, with a delicate face dominated by large violet eyes. A dramatic wind blew through his dark hair.  


"Kamui-chan!" Kotori exclaimed.  


"You've made Kotori-chan cry!" Kamui yelled. "You'll suffer!"  


Quatre chuckled at the child's seriousness. As it turned out, it hadn't been exactly the smartest move possible. The small boy shouted something and pointed his hands at the amused Arabian. Quatre was knocked backwards by a wave of black energy, landing in a heap on top Nokoru. The last thing he heard before fading out was Kamui's mad cackle.  


* * *

"Are you sure we should be here?" Utako moved a bit closer to Akira, who was still twitching from his earlier electrifying experience.  


Trowa indicated that this was the only part of the cafeteria they had not searched yet. He looked at home on the edge of the roof, in contrast to the shivering girl. Surprisingly, Akira moved almost as surely as the tall ex-pilot, walking along the sheer drop with ease.  


"I wonder how Kaichou's doing," he mused. "He's probably found the necklace by now. He always solves his cases."  


"You solve mysteries too, Akira-kun," Utako pointed out.  


"Not nearly as often- AARGH!"  


A brick gave way under his foot and the black-haired boy would have fallen from the roof. Trowa caught his hand at the last moment, but even the ex-pilot's long limbs did not allow him to reach for any solid handhold with his other arm. Utako grabbed at both of them but the trio kept slipping over the edge, inevitably getting closer to the chasm.  


Fortunately the drop was but ten feet, further softened by thick bushes growing by the wall of the cafeteria. Softened, that is, for Utako and Akira, whose impact was not with the ground, but with Trowa. The tall boy had the misfortune of ending up at the bottom of the pile.  


The two Japanese got up immediately, but the ex-pilot was dazed and bleeding from about two dozen small cuts. "Roses..." he muttered as he pushed himself up.  


He blinked. A pair of pink eyes blinked back at him. The rabbit was large and white. Something silver and green glittered around its neck.  


Then the animal bounced away. Trowa looked up at the other two.  


"Did you see that...?"  


Two seconds later they were hot on the rabbit's tail.  


* * *

Wufei's cellphone rang, causing him to falter mid-swing. He fished it out, cursing quietly, while Suoh put his sword back on the rack.  


"Chang."  


"Barton here. We're following a suspected perpetrator. We'll be coming through the nearest path east of your location in about three minutes. See you there."  


"Copy. Chang out."  


The phone hit the wall with a thud.  


"We'd better get going," Wufei sighed. "I wonder where Heero and Duo are. They should have been back by now."  


* * *

* * *

Notes:  
Football mentioned is the European version (whaddya mean, soccer?? That's football!!)  
Suoh and Wufei's fight influenced by the fantastic movie "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon", innumerable Kurosawa movies and Rurouni Kenshin. I'm on an overdose of Oriental swordfighting...  
Kamui and Kotori from CLAMP's X/1999. And yes, Kamui cackles - as in "MWAHAHAHA!!!" I don't like Kamui-chan much... methinks he's too much like Yours Truly *sigh* The only reason I don't blow people up is because I can't do so with a thought and plastique's expensive  


In the next chapter: Where _are_ Duo and Heero? The place looks romantic - but is it love or blood in the air? Find out in the next installment of Gundam Babylon, "Playing with sakura"!  



	5. Playing with sakura


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead, and a kiss
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER FIVE: Playing with sakura 

mini-dictionary:  
sakura - cherry, cherry petals, cherry tree  
obaasan - grandmother  
minna - everyone  
sakurazukamori - literally "guardian of the cherry-tree barrow", or so I'm told  
onmyoujitsu - traditional yin-yang magic  


* * *

Duo laughed as he dove into the crowd, skipping from one stand to the next, Seishirou not far behind. Some sold food and refreshments, others souvenirs, but the pair gravitated towards the ones with antique merchandise. The twin sounds of their laughter carried into the twilight, merging with the soft sounds of music from the main festival grounds.  


Heero and Subaru stood under the sakura trees, waiting for the other two to finish their treasure hunt. Subaru shivered in the evening breeze, even though he was wearing both a coat and a hat, as well as his habitual gloves.  


"Are you alright?" Heero asked. "Still weak from yesterday?"  


"A bit," the black-haired boy admitted. "I- this used to be my favorite place of all Tokyo. But now..."  


"Yes?"  


"I've been having strange dreams lately. I see a particular sakura tree here in Ueno, and a man saying something about blood and the color of the sakura petals. I cannot see his face clearly, but he scares me. Then he's promising me something... promising that we'll meet again. At first I thought it was just a dream, but now I think it may have happened when I was a child. I'm sure that if I could remember more of it, I would understand.  


"And today my grandmother called. She is worried about me; she did a fortune-telling for me and saw sakura petals killing me. Sakura can also symbolize the assassin Sakurazukamori, and the persons who have held this title have always been enemies of my family, so she tells me. They also practice onmyoujitsu, but where the Sumeragi are the light, they are the darkness. Sakurazukamori killed my father... Obaasan worries that I may be next."  


"Is there anything you can do?" Heero asked.  


"Just strengthen my defenses, but that is getting harder. Between this and my dreams, I haven't been getting much sleep in the last few weeks."  


"I see." Heero placed a hand on Subaru's shoulder and murmured a few words of Latin. "This should help you a bit."  


Subaru felt the additional barrier rise. "Thank you," he whispered.  


"Oi! Minna! Look what we found!" Duo shouted to them.  


Heero and Subaru joined the other pair at a stall selling replicas of antiques. Seishirou showed them a beautiful picture - a replica of a seventeenth-century drawing depicting, strangely enough, the Madonna and the Child. The Virgin's face was calm and serene, gazing with maternal warmth into the eyes of the child. The clothes they both wore were a harmonious blend of seventeenth-century Portuguese wear and traditional Japanese kimonos. Roman letters wound around the pair, twisting and winding like vines, in a harmonious blend of Oriental and baroque styles.  


"It's beautiful," Subaru admitted.  


"Does any of you have any idea what it says?" Seishirou asked.  


Duo peered in closely, trying to decipher the writing. "Nope, no idea. I might have been in a Catholic orphanage, but Latin wasn't on the curriculum."  


"My knowledge is limited to say the least," Seishirou said. "Can you translate it, Heero? I believe Subaru said you know Latin - very well."  


Heero shot Subaru a scathing look.  


"Uh, sorry, I mean - let's forget it..." Subaru muttered.  


"Oh, who cares!" Duo exclaimed. "It's pretty, but nothing to get so worked up about! Let's go look at the sakura trees!"  


"Good idea," Subaru agreed hastily.  


* * *

"Heero," Duo began, "what was that Seishirou-san said about you knowing Latin?"  


The two ex-pilots were standing on a bridge over a stream in the park. Around them the sakura trees stretched, silent and white as ghosts in the moonlight. Their blossoms were already withering - the blooming season was almost over. They had been silent for almost a quarter of an hour now, Heero watching Duo's graceful form as the braided boy swayed slightly in rhythm with the faint music coming from the festival grounds. The question brought him back to reality.  


"Yesterday Subaru-kun overextended himself when trying to exorcise a ghost."  


"Yeah, Su-chan looked like hell warmed over when you met up with us."  


"I wanted to help him. I know... a few things. I used one of them."  


"Things?"  


The Japanese boy regarded him seriously. "Duo, if you laugh I'll kill you."  


"Who, Heero, me?? C'mon, spill."  


"Spells. I've learned them long ago, back when I was with Odin Lowe. He was interested in the occult and let me read through his books. Turned out I had more talent than he did, or maybe I just cast the spells in a different way."  


"With purer power?" Duo suggested.  


"What do you mean?"  


"Oh, I've seen it from the word go," he smiled. "You, Heero Yuy, are the purest being I have seen."  


The brown-haired boy made a motion as if to speak, but the American stopped him.  


"No, you are. It's not only that you're heroic, chivalrous, idealistic. It's that you _shine_ with the brightest light. I used to just sit and watch you glow, d'you know that? Hell, I wanted-" He stopped, as if afraid to say more.  


Finally Heero found his voice. "Was that why you left? After the Eve wars?"  


Duo grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. Got scared, I guess. 'Sides, isn't the hero supposed to end up with the princess?"  


He yelped when he was pushed back against the railing, Heero's body pressing into his and a strong hand at his throat. "Do not say this again," the Japanese boy snarled. "This is not some fairy tale. This is _you_ and _me_!"  


Duo gulped. "Does that mean what I think it means?"  


"Yes." Heero's hand moved from his neck to the back of his head, drawing the partly open lips closer.  


Duo shivered as the short distance between them disappeared. The kiss was clumsy for a moment, but then their bodies remembered just how to do it right, and their tongues twined. Heero's hands were all over his partner's body, reacquainting themselves with the shapes they'd last felt more than a year ago.  


He moved his mouth to the hollow of Duo's throat, lapping gently with his tongue in a way that he knew would make the braided boy squirm and moan.  


"He-Heero..." Duo managed to gasp out. "This might not be a good idea... I'm not right for you... I'm-"  


"I don't care," Heero growled before taking his lips again. He cupped Duo's buttocks, pressing the other tight against himself. He felt hands work their way tentatively under his jacket, and virtually purred. "I. Want. You. Period."  


Right now Duo could only moan as their bodies rubbed against each other. The world whirled and faded, and the only thing he could feel was fire everywhere the other boy touched him. He knew there was something he had to tell Heero, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what. Instead he idly wondered whether there were any comfortable bushes nearby... with the way his lover's hands were heading, they might want to make use of such a hiding place. Soon.  


A startled yelp broke the haze of passion. They jumped apart and turned to see a very blushing Subaru and a silently grinning Seishirou.  


"S-sorry!" the black-haired boy stuttered.  


"No sweat," Duo answered him cheerfully. He looked at Heero and licked his lips, looking for all the world like a cat that had just eaten a bowl of cream. "But I think we should be getting home."  


"We can take a shortcut through the park," Seishirou offered.  


They set out through a maze of shaded alleys. Seishirou led, with his hand wrapped securely around Subaru's frail shoulder. Behind them, Duo skipped cheerfully, not caring for anything but Heero's hand holding his.  


Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew through, knocking Subaru's hat off the boy's head and carrying it off into the trees. The green-eyed boy ran after it, with the others following quickly. They stopped when they saw the headgear stuck in a sakura tree.  


It was perhaps the oldest tree in the park, and the biggest. Its branches were gnarled and twisted like the arthritic fingers of a malicious sorceror. Even though the neighboring trees were already losing their blossoms, this one bloomed fantastically. The flowers were pink, delicate like a baby's skin, the subtle shade even more apparent in the silvery moonlight that turned each twig into a living being writhing with mysterious shadows.  


"Pink sakura..." Subaru whispered softly. He looked at his hat and shook his head. "I don't feel like climbing tonight."  


Seishirou started to say something, but Duo beat him to it. He ascended the tree with catlike grace, easily climbing almost fifteen feet up in a space of seconds. Then his braid caught on a gnarled branch, the tree's arthritic wooden fingers clenching around the chestnut strands.  


Heero felt a chill, like if a breeze had stirred, but the air remained still. He could hear whispers on the edge of his hearing, eldritch voices speaking of death and power and revenge. Beside him, Seishirou tensed.  


Duo's hair tie snapped with a sharp sound, leaving his hair free to tumble around his body in silky waves. The American shook his head in annoyance and quickly dove into the sakura blooms to retrieve the hat.  


"Why are those sakura pink, when all the others are white?" Heero asked suddenly. He felt the question was important somehow, and the feeling was reinforced when he saw Subaru startle at the words.  


Duo emerged on the other side of the sakura with the hat in hand. He leaned against the tree's trunk, balancing easily on the branches. His hair fell down to his knees, draping over the bark and blending in with it, becoming almost a part of the tree. He flashed a strange half-smile at Heero.  


"You don't know, Hee-chan? There are bodies buried underneath this tree!" His eyes gleamed silver in the moonlight. " The blossoms are pink because the sakura drinks human blood!" He laughed, carefree, cheerful laughter. An errant gust of wind blew sakura petals around him, surrounding him in a cloud of delicate sweet-smelling pink.  


He jumped down effortlessly, landing softly as if he'd gone down from three feet, not fifteen. His hair drifted around his face, surrounding it in a dark gold halo. He handed the hat to Subaru with a flourish.  


"I do believe this is yours, sir," he quipped, executing an elaborate bow.  


Subaru smiled hesitantly. Seishirou, still holding an arm around the black-haired boy, regarded the American warily.  


"Saa, I'm tired!" Duo exclaimed. "Let's go!"  


* * *

Before the entrance to the subway station, the group paused.  


"Thank you for a wonderful evening," Subaru smiled at Heero.  


"I'm sorry for intruding," Heero said.  


"Oh no, it was not intruding..."  


Beside them, Seishirou and Duo eyed each other warily for a moment. Then the braided boy sneaked a glance to make sure his partner wasn't watching and threw his arms around the taller man, hugging him tightly.  


"How'd you like my little showdown with your precious tree?" Duo whispered.  


Seishirou hugged him back cheerfully. "I may have underestimated you," he said, equally quietly.  


Duo hugged Subaru next, almost knocking the frail boy down. "Thanks Su-chan, we had a ball! Double dates are fun, right?" He snickered as the green-eyed boy blushed furiously.  


Heero tugged on the braided boy's arm.  


"Alright, alright!" Duo exclaimed. "See you in school, Su-chan!!"  


As they descended into the subway the wind brought the sound of a single flute playing an old Japanese tune. Heero recognized it as "Sakura, sakura".  


* * *

When they arrived back on campus, Duo and Heero were confronted with an unusual sight. The other boys from their little clique were lounging in the common room of the ex-pilots' dormitory, looking more than a little worse for wear. Nokoru was nursing a bump on his head, Quatre jumped at every slight sound, Akira was still slightly singed and Trowa looked as if he had been mauled by one of his lions. Still the worst off were probably Wufei and Suoh, both covered in so much scrapes and bruises that one could barely tell the natural color of their skin.  


"What the hell _happened_ here??" Duo exclaimed.  


His only answer was a team of glares from all.  


"C'mon, tell us!"  


"They've been quiet all evening," Relena said from the doorway. "I'm afraid something happened when they were looking for my necklace... From what Utako-chan and Nagisa-chan told me, they weren't having much luck to begin with and then the girls lost sight of them when they ran after a white rabbit."  


"Rabbit??" Duo was evidently curious.  


"The only thing I could get out of them was something about a woman who wanted to chop off their heads..."  


"And play cricket," Quatre muttered. The others glared at him and shushed him down.  


"Did they find the necklace?" Heero asked.  


"Oh, you won't believe it!" Relena beamed and held up the piece of jewelry. "It turned out that Dorothy borrowed it for a party - it came in the mail today!"  


Wufei muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "stupid onna". Nokoru seemed torn between chastising him for offending womankind and heartily agreeing with him.  


"C'mon Heero, let's go out..." Duo muttered. "The atmosphere's too thick with mystery for me."  


* * *

The night was still beautiful and warm, full of the smell of plum trees in bloom - a scent more delicate and subtle than the cloying sweetness of sakura. The two boys stopped under one such tree, and Duo turned to face Heero.  


"I still don't get something," he remarked.  


"If you say anything about Relena, I'll gag you with your braid."  


Duo chuckled. "Seriously, why do you want me, when you can have her?" Just to be sure, he clutched his hair protectively.  


Heero glared, then considered the question. "You say I'm pure. It feels good to have someone who believes in me like that."  


"So does she."  


"She doesn't know me like you do. She hasn't been through the stuff you and I have." Heero placed a hand on Duo's chin, gazing deep into violet eyes. "You know _me_, and you don't turn away. That's worth more than anything."  


He kissed the braided boy deeply. After a good few minutes, they had to pause for breath.  


"Besides," Heero smirked, "You look better."  


They resumed kissing, and the Japanese boy did not notice the girls that passed them by about five minutes later. They did not notice anything either, apart from a few black feathers that the wind swept through the empty space under a plum tree.  


Duo congratulated himself on his foresight with the last coherent thought before his brain turned to mush.  


* * *

* * *

Notes:  
Madonna and Child - for those who don't know, this means the Christian figures of the virgin Mary, mother of God, and baby Jesus. Christianity first came to Japan in late 16th and early 17th century through Portuguese missionaries so the existance of such a picture is possible, though I must admit to having made this one up...  
And in this chapter, research goes to pieces. If anyone can tell me what's wrong with my description of Ueno Park, I promise to remain eternally grateful and shower the person with virtual Pocky! I just couldn't find a map with all the paths.  
Lots of stuff taken from Tokyo Babylon... too much to mention  
"Sakura, sakura" is a traditional Japanese melody. You can listen to it here 

I was suspicious enough when Duo started behaving strangely in the third chapter, but this took the cake. I was just as puzzled by what he was saying as Heero, but I had the benefit of not being totally blinded with uh, passion ^_^ Anyway that boy's starting to scare me... and Sei-chan's too quiet. _Definitely_ too quiet.  


PS: writer's block and general inability for comic stuff stopped me from describing the adventures of G-boys and Clamp Campus Detectives in Wonderland... figure out your own version ^_^  


* * *

In the next chapter: Shakespearean mayhem, courtesy of one ecstatically happy Duo Maxwell! Then the mood gets darker: what has happened to Seishirou? Why is Subaru so sad? Be wary, it's "Twilight over Babylon"!  



	6. Twilight over Babylon


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead, and spoilers for Tokyo
    Babylon volumes five and six.
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER SIX: Twilight over Babylon 

Mini-dictionary:  


onmyouji - sorceror/magician, more or less  
ninmu kanryou - mission accomplished  
Sakurazukamori - literally "guardian of the cherry tree grave"  
sakura - cherry, cherry blossom, cherry tree  


* * *

Blood splattered on white tiles. There were people running, shouting, crying, but he only had eyes for one.  


"SEISHIROU-SAN!!!!!"  


* * *

Heero was worried. Subaru had not attended school for four days and he found himself missing their conversations and the black-haired boy's insight. From what little he could get out of Duo (they were not exactly concentrating on talking in the moments they managed to snatch together), he knew that Hokuto had been absent as well, and was not answering her phone. He decided to look into this, but first he had to assemble this program, so that this pathetic excuse for an IT teacher would leave him alone.  


He glared at the screen, mentally willing the compiler to hurry up. Then the display went black.  


"It looks like you've managed to crash the computer, Yuy-kun," the teacher noted smugly. This insolent brat had been getting on his nerves lately, and the fact that the day before the color scheme on the teacher's computer had been turned into psychedelics and password-protected had not served to lighten that mood.  


"I didn't," Heero snarled.  


"Ara..." someone said softly from the floor near the door to the computer room. A blond tousled head popped up and Nokoru grinned apologetically. He held up the power cable he had just tripped over. "Was this important?"  


* * *

"And through the simplicity of the iambic perimeter, the Bard..."  


English Lit, Duo decided, was boring. Borrring. Bor-rin-ng.  


Casting a quick eye around the room, he came to realize he wasn't the only one of this opinion. Relena dozed on her notebook, while Nokoru and Quatre were pelting each other with paper planes.  


Hmph. Planes. He could do much better.  


Surreptitiously tearing a few pages from his notebook, he tried to remember how to fold a crane. After forcibly derailing his train of thought from the activities that had followed that particular lesson from Heero, he succeeded in making a perfect bird, flapping wings and all. Then an owl, and then a chrysanthemum.  


He caught Relena's eyes on him from across the room. He grinned at the girl and stuck the paper bloom on a pencil. He then mimed smelling the makeshift flower with delight while putting one fist on his hip. From the way the blond girl turned red with muffled laughter, he figured she had recognized Khushrenada's trademark pose.  


"Now, class," he heard the teacher say, "we will practice verbal stylization. You may say anything as long as it is in Shakespearean English."  


Duo seized upon the occasion, standing up with his paper rose. "But truly the fact must made be known," he exclaimed. "That those who beauty possess, happiness shall have not..."  


"How dare thee mock a hero's shade?" Relena joined in, acting for all the world outraged.  


"Not the shade of those by death embraced, just the words their mouths hath formed."  


Nokoru decided to join in, despite his ignorance of the discussion. "But tell me this, dear sir and madam: is it not true that there be in beauty truth, and in truth beauty?"  


"Neither doth truth happiness make," Quatre pointed out. "And this shall thyself know herewith, triest thou to match with mine sword."  


"I pray thee, be more elegant... sir." Duo's words caused another bout of giggles in Relena, to whom he now turned. "And as for thee, my fair Countess..."  


"Truth, quaint as it may sound," she interrupted him, "I do prefer 'Marquess'."  


"I beg you both to stop those silly jests," Quatre sighed. "Amusing as they sound, they are not to all known. I doth not contemplate depriving our comrades of the relief a comedy provides."  


"Comedy be here, in the very flesh!" Nokoru laughed. "Understanding be damned, and let us all but laugh!"  


"Laugh? Prithee, sir, not pleases me that sentiment." Duo abandoned his Treize impression. "Knowst thou not in whose company thou be?"  


"Pray tell me."  


"And that I shall; for in this very room have we our share of rulers, warriors and gods even. Knowing but a fraction of one's past deeds enough would be to cry murder most foul!"  


"So shalt it not be!" Quatre cried. "I bid Death silent to remain, and release not the secrets of the grave! Tis time of bloodlessness and cheer!"  


"And," Duo grinned, offering his arm to Relena, "with my mouth thus silenced, pray let Death invite you all to lunch!"  


When the door closed behind them, the teacher reached for his cache of Ibuprofen.  


* * *

After lunch, Duo and Heero sat under a tree in the park. To be precise, Heero sat with his back against it, and Duo was sprawled comfortably in the Japanese boy's lap, strong fingers toying with his hair.  


"Still no news from Su-chan?" the American asked.  


"No."  


"Hokuto-chan wasn't at school today either. I'm worried."  


"So am I. It's not like Subaru-kun to skip so much school."  


"He seemed cheerful enough last weekend," Duo mused.  


Heero snorted. "More like ready to tear your head off. Did you _have_ to bait those penguins?"  


"Who, me?? Sei-chan was the one who started it!! And how could we know they'd break through the glass and attack us?"  


They both laughed at the memory of their latest double-date in the Sunshine 60 building - those weekend meetings had become a habit for the past month. And surely the Sumeragi had been more relaxed with each one, Duo's antics giving him an excuse to laugh with the rest of them and stop being the serious onmyouji for a while.  


"Anyway, I'm worried," Heero admitted.  


"You? Heavens, save me! The great Heero Yuy has just admitted to a feelin- eep!" Duo glared at his lover, who had just pinched his arm. "Okay, so what do we do?"  


"Pay them a visit and find out what's going on."  


"OK. When?"  


"Today, after school."  


* * *

Several hours later, they stood in front of the door to Hokuto Sumeragi's apartment. Duo impatiently rang the bell for the sixth time.  


"This is _major_ weird," he muttered.  


Suddenly hurried footsteps sounded on the staircase, and then a breathless Hokuto emerged from around a corner.  


"Oh, it's you!" the black-haired girl exclaimed. "It's great you're here, maybe _you'll_ be able to help with Subaru!"  


Worry shot through Heero at her words, but it was Duo who grabbed her, violet eyes narrowed and serious. "What happened?!" he demanded.  


She sighed. "You'd better come in - I need to get some stuff from my place anyway."  


* * *

Once inside, Duo again spoke before Heero could open his mouth.  


"What happened to Su-chan?!" His face was tense. It seemed even his hair picked up the mood, as more and more strands were escaping from the once-neat braid.  


"Oh, Subaru's okay, just depressed - _major_ depressed," Hokuto explained. "He's blaming himself for what happened to Seishirou..."  


"I think you owe us a story," Heero stated.  


"Okay," the girl sighed, flopping down on the couch. "You remember how Subaru was a bit under the weather last week? I took him to the hospital, and he met this boy - Yuuya - and made friends. Kid was ten years old and with badly failing kidneys - you know my brother well enough to get that he was kinda sad over this... Su-chan had to show up there for injections and stuff for the next few days, and met the boy's mother." She shrugged. "Poor woman was crazy over the boy - she'd lost a daughter to the same disease already, and there's never enough organ donors around. Next time Subaru came, Yuuya's state was critical. The mother went crazy - she became convinced that if she killed someone, their organs would save her son. She got hold of a knife.  


"Subaru just happened to be closest. I- I didn't see much, but Seishirou did... he threw himself in front of my brother to protect him. She stabbed him in the eye.  


"He's alright, but his eye's lost for good. Subaru's been all but catatonic since. Or mad with anger. I took him to see Sei-chan yesterday, but it didn't help much... Not 'cause of Seishirou, he's been very helpful and cheered him up for a bit. Then we met Yuuya again, and it all seemed to be working out fine, but then everything came back and my brother's been wallowing in grief again. He's so concerned about Sei-chan-"  


Duo put a hand on her shoulder. "I think grief and blame is something we've had a lot of practice at handling."  


Violet eyes smiled into green ones.  


* * *

The upstairs apartment showed signs of neglect - plants were wilting and books gathered dust in the corners. In the bedroom, the figure on the bed did not move when they entered.  


"Hello, Subaru-kun," Heero said.  


No reaction.  


Duo winked at his companions and swiftly approached the bed. In one pull he had the covers off the sulking onmyouji. "Enough brooding, Su-chan!" he informed him.  


The black-haired boy's emerald eyes were full of pain. "You don't understand," he muttered.  


"So what's the big deal?" Duo backed off to stand beside Hokuto again.  


"It's all because of me," Subaru whispered, sitting down on the bed. "I- I-"  


"Subaru-kun, moaning about it won't help," Heero stated. "Get yourself together."  


Hokuto scowled at this unceremonious advice and started to say something, but was stilled by a hand on her arm. She looked up into warm violet eyes.  


"Saa, Heero's right. Bad things happen, and it's not terminal you know," Duo said.  


"But- Seishirou-san's eye... He might go blind..." Subaru had trouble putting words together.  


"He's not dead," Heero said bluntly.  


Duo sat down beside the black-haired boy and put a comforting arm around his friend's frail shoulders.  


"Let me tell you a story, kid," he started. "Remember when we first met, how I told you me and Heero were in the war, colony side? In that war, I've gone through a lot. I got shot at, captured, tortured and hunted. I had two stable points in my life through that time: Heero and my mobile suit."  


"You were a MS pilot?" Subaru asked, forgetting for a moment his predicament.  


"Not just any old MS. Custom-made for yours truly, the best machine you can imagine. After a few months I'd started to think of it as more than just metal and circuits. It became my partner, friend, confidant - hell, I slept in the cockpit once in a while. Named it Shinigami, after the one god I believe in. Ol' Shini sometimes sure had more to say than Heero here," Duo winked at the other pilot. "Without those two, I wouldn't be here. But you know what the worst two moments in the war were?"  


"What?"   


He had Subaru's full interest now.  


"Losing them, losing them both." Duo noted the way Hokuto's gaze swung to the silent figure of Heero leaning against the wall. He chuckled. "Ask Heero to show you the scars sometime, the scars he got when he blew his MS up. As I watched, no less. Hell, I'd thought he was dead, thought so for a damn long time. Shoulda known what's to hang won't drown."  


"Hn," Heero remarked, smirking indulgently at his partner.  


"Shinigami wasn't so lucky. I'd lost it to OZ, but was planning to get it back - figured they would want to analyze it for some time, giving me a chance to think up a plan. There I was, walking down a street, all a-planning how to spring my suit from OZ, when I noticed people staring at a screen. I looked, too."  


Duo gazed straight at Subaru. "I saw my Shinigami, in space. Surrounded by OZ suits. They opened fire." He swallowed. "Ol' Shini stood up well, and for a minute there I thought he'd show them, but then..." his voice broke. "The armor cracked. I felt as if my own skin had been cut. A few more missiles and he exploded - I tried to look away but I couldn't. After a minute, when the screen faded, I heard somebody screaming. Then I realized it was me."  


The Sumeragi twins were both staring at Duo, sympathy in their eyes. Heero was standing against the wall with his arms crossed, but a strange half-smile twisted his lips.  


Duo continued. "Hell, it hurt - but I made it. Hurt for a bit, but I knew I was needed. Couldn't let the guys down. Got a new suit after a while. And then we won the war. End of story." He fixed Subaru with a violet stare again. "It was worth it, to bring the peace about. Worth everything, even risking the ones I love."  


"Duo-" Hokuto started. "That Shinigami of yours was a Gundam, right?"  


The braided boy nodded. "Deathscythe."  


The girl grinned widely. "You're all Gundam pilots - I knew it!"  


"I flew Wing," Heero confirmed. "Trowa had Heavyarms, Quatre's was Sandrock, Wufei's-"  


"Nataku," Duo snickered.  


"Shenlong." Heero glared at his partner.  


"Yeah, right." Duo grinned sheepishly.  


"Wow, Gundam pilots! I gotta get all of your autographs!" Hokuto was almost dancing around the room.  


Duo snorted with laughter, then turned back to Subaru. "You better now?"  


"Yes..." The boy smiled tentatively, then reached out and hugged the American. "Thank you."  


Duo returned the embrace, smiling at Heero over the onmyouji's shoulder. /Ninmu kanryou,/ he mouthed.  


"Well!" Hokuto smiled at her brother. "Now that you're better, you should go visit Sei-chan again! He's going to think you don't love him any more!"  


"Ho-Hokuto-chan!!!" Subaru turned bright red.  


"It's too late today." Heero motioned to the rapidly darkening sky outside. "How about we both go tomorrow? You look like you could use backup."  


"I'd like that," Subaru smiled. "Let's go after school."  


"You sure you're up to school?" Hokuto asked.  


"Yes - I've missed too much already."  


* * *

"Are you sure you do not need anything more?"  


"No, thank you. Good night."  


"Good night then." The nurse turned off the light and left the room.  


A shadow fell across the window, blocking the glow from the street lamp and leaving the room in darkness. The man on the bed lifted his head.  


"Hello there," he said. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"  


"Skip the pleasantries," his visitor hissed. "Whaddya go and do that for?" A slender hand gestured to the bandage on the man's head as explanation.  


He shrugged. "I _don't_ know. Why do you care?"  


"I don't like seeing pure hearts broken."  


"Oh, spare me. You, of all people?"  


"Unlike you, I don't let tradition govern my life."  


"Yes... you've made that _very_ clear when you surfaced as part of that colony movement. And what was the point?"  


Delicate lips twisted in a half-smile. "Would you believe redemption?"  


"No," the man stated flatly.  


"Then - I _don't_ know." The nighttime visitor twisted a hand in the cascade of chestnut hair that flowed down the window sill. "Still, what do you plan to do?"  


The man touched his bandaged eye ruefully. "It's too late to heal - I guess I shall just live with it."  


"And the boy?"  


A single golden eye flashed in the moonlight. "Subaru-kun is my business."  


A shrug. "Just don't mess up _my_ toys..."  


"Any other threats you care to make?" Irritation sounded in the man's voice.  


"My, my... could that be anger? _Emotion_?" A flash of amused silver in the visitor's eyes.  


"What would you know about them?"  


"Well, I don't repress my feelings... unlike certain people I could mention."  


"Certain people _I_ could mention, too."  


"He got over this - and that's one I owe Subaru."  


"Are you going to interfere?"  


"We'll see about that." The visitor grinned and turned to leave. "Good night, Sakurazukamori."  


Duo took a step through the window and disappeared. Seishirou unclenched his hand, releasing a small black feather. It fluttered to the ground, landing between two pink sakura petals.  


* * *

* * *

Notes:   
I admit to ripping off part of the second scene in this chapter (to boot, Nokoru's appearance) off the back of IIRC the first "Clamp Gakuen Tantei Dan" tankoubon...  
The Shakespeare stuff, as well as origami, is adapted from my own English class. Props to May, Mike and Mike, who here provide some of Relena's, Quatre's and Nokoru's lines respectively - Duo's lines (C) by Yours Truly; none of us spoke correct Shakespearean, nor do we claim to. I don't know if my English teacher takes Ibuprofen as soon as we're out of the classroom, but he's been known to shoo me out as soon as the lesson starts... I'm not _that_ bad!!!  
Sunshine 60 is supposedly a real place (I _gotta_ find myself a guide to Tokyo! I hate lousy research, most of all in my own fics) and features in Tokyo Babylon as well as X 1999  
Yuuya's story and indeed all of the "off-camera" developments taken from Volume 5 and 6 of Tokyo Babylon.  
Duo's story, of course, (C) of whoever wrote Gundam Wing's scripts ^_^  


Originally, this was supposed to end at Heero and Subaru deciding to go see Seishirou. Then a certain long-haired, silver-eyed psychopath showed up at my window (don't ask _me_ how he did it, I'm on the tenth floor!) and took me along to see a certain other psycho... and then my teachers wonder why I'm not paying attention in class! ^_~  


In the next chapter: The mystery thickens! The master of illusions! Or is he a psychopath? Can anyone save Subaru's heart from being "Shattered by sakura"?  



	7. Shattered by sakura


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead, spoilers for
    Tokyo Babylon volumes 6 and 7
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

CHAPTER SEVEN: Shattered by sakura  


mini-dictionary:  
sakura -- cherry, cherry blossom, cherry petal, cherry tree  
moshi moshi -- hello, said when answering the phone  
obaa-sama -- grandmother (very respectful)  
kanji -- Japanese ideograms  
neesan -- elder sister  
onmyouji -- yin-yang magician  
onmyoujitsu -- yin-yang magic  
kaichou - chairman (Nokoru's title as chairman of the high school division)  
sou ka - I see  


* * *

Subaru decided that if he could not remember where he had put his textbooks, it meant he had not been to school for too long. He finally found them in the kitchen, buried under a pile of unread newspapers. He was just fastening the straps on his bag when the phone rang.  


"Moshi moshi."  


"Hello, Subaru-san. How are you today?"  


"Fine, thank you obaa-sama," the boy smiled, sitting down. "I'm just packing for school. Is there a job coming up?" His grandmother, the head of the Clan, often called to pass on details of a place or person that needed his occult help.  


"Not really." He heard the old lady sigh. "I did a fortune reading for you again."  


Subaru froze. "Did you see sakura again?"  


"Yes, but also something else. I fear I recognized that second aura. It did not feel antagonistic towards you, but what it _is_... I think you should be careful." The fax by the phone started spewing out pages tightly packed with kanji. "Please read those -- and be well, Subaru-san. Be well."  


"You too, obaa-sama." Subaru's mouth was clenched tight, his gloved hands trembling. _Don't let your soul be swept away by the sakura petals..._ His grandmother's words from the first time she told his future came back to haunt him.  


Subaru chucked the faxed sheets of paper in his bag and slammed the door behind him before rushing down the stairs.  


"Su-chan, what's the rush?" Hokuto asked him when he reached her floor. She was just locking the door behind her.  


"Uh..." he stuttered, too distraught to put words together. "Obaa-sama called and sent me something..."  


"Oh c'mon, Su-chan!" Hokuto grinned at him. "You won't fool your neesan! You just can't wait to see Sei-chan again -- true love hates separation!"  


"Ho-hokuto-chan! It's not like _that_!!"  


"Ohohohoho!"  


* * *

Subaru realized that despite himself, he was enjoying school. Across the cafeteria table, Duo and Hokuto were having yet another heated discussions about the fine points of a classic anime.  


"How can you like that chicken-headed idiot? He's the worst character on the show!" The American was visibly flustered. "Stupidest guy around!"  


Hokuto scowled. "He's fun, he kicks ass _and_ he's not stuck up like your favorite."  


"Oh, so you're dissing _my_ favorite now? He's not stuck up!"  


"Yes he is! Stone-face!"  


"That's dignity."  


"Yeah right," the girl smirked. "And he's obsessed."  


"Dedicated."  


"Moody."  


"You mean passionate," Duo corrected her.  


"Well, maybe," Hokuto admitted reluctantly. "But he's got a deathwish."  


"He just disregards his own safety in pursuit of his goal."  


"Are you talking about me?" Heero asked, setting down the second helpings of dessert he had gone to get.  


"No, Shinomori Aoshi," Duo grinned. "But you're right, sounds like you to the T," he whispered, winking at his partner.  


"Yeah, the moody dork from "Rurouni Kenshin"..." Hokuto muttered. "I _still_ don't know what you see in him."  


Subaru tuned out the continuing quarrel and concentrated on the sheaf of fax he was holding. Some characters were not kanji but Sanskrit or even Hebrew, which made the overall sense even more clouded. But he thought he was getting the gist of it -- a shadowy person or group of persons connected with mysterious outbreaks of plagues and revolutions, with sightings reported all over the world and as far back as the Sumeragi clan had been in existence. He flipped a page, only to find the next one holding just a few lines of text  


'In darkness deep all truths acquire  
From Raven black and Spirit fire,  
This omen bird with croak of death  
Leads to thy kill - that dying breath.

[from the Teachings of the Wolf Soldiers, 1545; attributed to prior oral tradition][1]'  


The rest of the page was taken up by a photocopy of an old, handwritten note. The characters were simple hiragana, drawn by an uncertain hand:  


'he walks in the path of death and chaos walks by his side and when you least expect it he breaks his bonds and silver shines and'  


The last line ended in a single stroke, as if the writer had slumped over at that moment. The stain further down the paper had been rendered black by photocopying and faxing, but the onmyouji knew it was blood.  


"Oi, Su-chan, whatcha reading?" Duo unceremoniously appropriated the file out of the startled black-haired boy's gloved hands. "This omen bird with croak of death... Wah, too spooky! So, what do you think, Aoshi-"  


"Moody-dork-sama," Hokuto supplied, "or Sanosuke?"  


"Chicken-head," the American clarified.  


"I like Saitou Hajime," Subaru said.  


_That_ got everyone's attention.  


"That psycho killer?" Duo protested.  


"He's so full of himself!" Hokuto agreed.  


"I think I see a pattern," Heero mused. "Tall, black hair, golden eyes..."  


"Oh, of course!" the girl giggled. "He reminds you of Sei-chan!!"  


* * *

Duo decided that, while fun, lunch with Heero and the Sumeragi twins was a foolproof way of making him late for the Japanese class. He grabbed a seat by Wufei, who seemed preoccupied with a thick file.  


"Man!" Duo exclaimed. "First Su-chan, now you - what _is_ it about people and files today?!"  


"Takamura-kun has asked for my opinion on this," the Chinese boy responded calmly.  


"Well, what's it about, Wu-chan?" Duo was curious now.  


"There have been threats on both the campus and Kaichou himself. With his mother out of the country, he's the only member of the Imonoyama family in residence at the moment, so Takamura-kun has asked me to review Kaichou's security arrangements."  


"Suoh-kun does take that secretary cum bodyguard stuff seriously, doesn't he?" Duo appropriated the file and leafed through it, ignoring the outraged glare of the teacher. "Looks like all guards have their work cut out for them. Even Suoh-kun himself has trouble keeping up with Nokoru-kun..."  


"Your ideas?" Wufei asked.  


The American grinned. "You've got five able terrorists on this side. I say one of us keeps by Nokoru-kun's side at all times. Even when Suoh-kun's present -- I know he's good, I saw you sparring, but he's never killed anyone. Split second hesitation... we both know how deadly that can be."  


"Yes."  


"You'll have to make do with yourself, Q-man and Trowa for now though, me and Heero are going into town with Su-chan and Hokuto. We'll be back late."  


"Maxwell, Chang!!" the teacher snapped. "If you've finished..."  


* * *

"Oi! Wait up!"  


Subaru and Heero turned to see Duo running towards them through the crowded courtyard of Clamp Senior High.  


"Are you going to see Sei-chan now?" the American asked when he caught up with them.  


"Yes."  


"Cool! Give him my best wishes. I've still got an Arts class, with Hokuto, then I guess we'll go shopping around Shinjuku. Give us a ring when you're finished with your visiting and we'll figure out a place to have dinner."  


Heero shot him a curious glance. "Don't tell me you're dragging Quatre along again. I thought that last time he described you as the Fashion Inquisition."  


"Nah," Duo grinned. "He's got extra IT with Nokoru-kun. All we're taking is his credit card."  


* * *

It was still early afternoon and the train into the city was not crowded. The seats next to Subaru and Heero were empty, allowing them to talk privately.  


"Are you afraid?" the brown-haired boy asked.  


"Is it that obvious?" Subaru muttered.  


Heero looked pointedly at the other boy's gloved hands, which were clenching the book bag convulsively.  


"I guess I am," the young onmyouji admitted. "I want to talk to Seishirou-san... I've almost made up my mind to tell him exactly how I feel... but I had the dream again tonight."  


"The sakura one?"  


"Yes. The young man under the tree... he looked almost like Seishirou-san. Only so evil..."  


"Sou ka. Have you considered the fact this may be due to Seishirou-san's last name?"  


"Sakurazuka? Yes... though I'm not sure. I'm afraid it's _more_ than that. And my grandmother told me something today that scared me even more."  


"The Sumeragi matriarch?" Heero asked.  


"Yes. She felt another presence by me. At first I thought she might be sensing you - you've got a fair amount of power - but the description doesn't match."  


"Was that what you were reading during lunch?"  


"Uh-huh. If my data is true, this person would be a match for the Sakurazukamori, both in magical and destructive power, but I have no idea who can it be." Green eyes looked desperately at Heero. "I know obaa-sama couldn't have been mistaken, but I don't _feel_ such malice in anyone near me. The only person in whose heart I can't look is Seishirou-san, and that's only... because... I guess I'm afraid what I would find. But I know he's not evil either!"  


Heero sat in silence. He awkwardly placed a hand on Subaru's arm. Blue eyes gazed at the despairing onmyouji, trying to find some way to lift the mood without going against what he felt himself.  


* * *

"This is silly," Nokoru stated. "You've got no proof that those threats have any substance."  


"Kaichou, I must take every threat to your well-being seriously," Suoh insisted. "The fact the persons behind them did not make their move yet doesn't mean they won't."  


"But Suoh-kun..."  


"Come on, Nokoru-kun." Quatre sighed. "Let's have a walk in the park and talk about it." He nodded to Suoh. _Wufei filled me in on the situation,_ he mouthed.  


Behind a corner, a nondescript young man in a Clamp College uniform hit a speed-dial button on his cellphone. "Subject is heading towards the park. One person of company."  


"Acknowledge. Wait until they are distracted and apprehend."  


* * *

In a bookshop, Duo stopped browsing the current issue of "People" and turned to see Hokuto leafing through a guide to Tokyo's restaurants.  


"What are you looking for?" he asked.  


"Something romantic - I want to arrange a dinner for Subaru and Sei-chan as soon as Sei-chan gets out of the hospital. It'll be a double celebration," she grinned.  


"Double?"  


"It's also the anniversary of their first meeting - I can't believe they have known each other for a whole year now! Actually, I think it's been exactly a year today."  


A year? Duo's heart skipped a beat. Then he grinned carelessly. He wouldn't... too melodramatic, he thought.  


* * *

"The doctor told me he might go blind," Subaru said. The two boys were walking down the street, nearing the hospital.  


"There's always cybernetic implants," Heero remarked. "They're getting better every year."  


"Yeah... but it's not the same." The onmyouji sighed, then noted the ex-pilot's glare. "I know, I know! I should be happy he's not dead."  


The brown-haired boy shook his head. "This may sound trite to you, but I've seen too many deaths not to value life."  


"Yeah, right."  


But the green-eyed boy was smiling when they entered the hospital. The young woman behind the reception desk recognized him and nodded as they passed.  


"What floor is Seishirou-san on?" Heero asked when they entered the lift.  


"The fourth one. Room 444."  


When they got out, Subaru was almost running. The room was just down the corridor, and he was at the door in an instant. The other boy hurried to keep up.  


Then a black energy shimmered into view in the doorway. Subaru passed through it, a startled expression on his face as he stared into the darkness filling the space before him. Heero though was stopped by the barrier, the strands of magic crackling and threatening to hurt if he proceeded.  


All he could do was watch as a gust of wind-  


_we're in a building shouldn't be wind_  


-took off Subaru's hat. The same eerie breeze ruffled Seishirou's hair.  


"Now, the time has come to conclude our game," the tall man said. "Hasn't it, Subaru-kun?"  


* * *

_Da-da-da-dee!_  


Hokuto's cellphone rang frantically. She fumbled to answer it, caught in the crowd of a Ginza boutique.  


"Obaa-sama? No, he's not with me. He went to see a friend- No, I'm sure- it can't be! Yes, we're on our way."  


She looked at Duo with worry in her green eyes. "It's about Subaru."  


He froze momentarily, dropping the jacket he had been trying on. Then he caught her hand. "Let's go."  


* * *

[1]This is an excerpt from a poem by John Mullin called "The teacher (the wolf)". It was NOT written by me, but rather shoved in my face when Duo got bored of waiting for me to guess _what_ he was.  


* * *

Notes: The Lady Sumeragi does call Subaru "Subaru-san", at least according to the translation I read (by Ronny Hedin). Blame it on her being old-fashioned and formal. The first fortune reading she did for Subaru is mentioned in Volume 4 (Save A)  
Aoshi, Sanosuke and Saitou (who, besides being tall, dark-haired and golden-eyed, happens to have no qualms about killing and hurting people) all property of Nobuhiro Watsuki. I read the 'moody-dork-sama' comment at a shrine to the aforementioned moody dork himself. Yes, I've got Kenshin on the brain. So do a few friends of mine - the conversation was once again inspired by a real one (with the only difference being that I was busy writing this fic and no-one was surprised that I liked Saitou ^_^)  
Unfortunately I don't have "Tokyo Babylon" volume 6 (the events of which are featured in this part) -- so I made Seishirou's room number up. 4 = shi = death. Normally a hospital wouldn't have a fourth floor (because of bad luck), but what the hell...  


In the next chapter: Sakura, falling. "Should have listened when you called my name"  



	8. Should have listened when you called my ...


    Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
    Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru
    WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead, SEVERE spoilers for Tokyo Babylon
    volume 7, including cut-and-pasted dialogue
    

DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^ 

Gundam Babylon 

by Beth 

mini-dictionary:  
onmyoujitsu - traditional Japanese yin-yang magic  
onmyouji - magician using onmyoujitsu  
sakura - cherry, cherry tree, cherry blossom  
sakurazukamori - guardian of the cherry tree grave  
obaa-sama - grandmother (very respectful)  
hime - princess (literally "sun maiden")  


* * *

"I believe that it is time to conclude our bet, now." Seishirou was smiling. "Subaru Sumeragi."  


"Sei...shirou...san?" The young onmyouji was stunned.  


"I have created this illusion with my magical power."  


Trapped behind the barrier, Heero nodded. He had figured as much... now how to dispel it. This would take some time, he realized. He decided to observe for now, grateful for the small circle of light in which the two onmyouji stood.  


"Exactly a year has passed, now..." the man continued, "since we have met, you and I. Today, we are going to finalize our promise."  


"Since we have...?" Subaru repeated numbly. "Our promise...?"  


The darkness of the illusion swirled and lightened to reveal a familiar place. Standing in the doorway, Heero recognized it as well.  


Ueno Park, under a certain sakura tree. But while this one bloomed in full, the others sported only the green leaves of full summer.  


"Where am I?" Subaru whispered.  


A small child walked through the grass, wearing a white traditional robe. His face was determined, a dedicated fire shining in the green eyes that were too large for the elfin features.  


Subaru gasped. "That boy... is me... when I was little." He remembered now, the memories coming half from the time far in the past and half from the dream that had hunted him since then. "It was 7 years ago... The day in which I worked my first assignment. It's the dream I had this morning. This tree..."  


Another figure shimmered into view, leaning on the sakura tree. The boy was perhaps eighteen, with wavy black hair falling down his face and shading his eyes. He wore a high-school uniform.  


"These cherry blossoms are magnificent," the newcomer addressed the child. "You like its flowers, then?"  


The little Subaru-chan smiled. "Yes!"  


"I've always wondered who he was..." his sixteen-year-old self mused. "That boy?"  


"I'm going to tell you a story," the teenage apparition said. "There are bodies buried underneath the foot of this cherry tree."  


_You don't know, Hee-chan? There are bodies buried underneath this tree!_. "Duo..." Heero whispered.  


* * *

Pushing through the Ginza crowd, Duo shuddered, feeling a cold shiver run over his body. _An angel passed,_ a line from an old book came to him.  


* * *

"Bodies?" the small boy asked.  


"The reason this tree blooms so beautifully each year is the bodies buried under its roots. Look, the other sakura trees have blossoms as white as the snow. Do you know why this sakura is pink? It's because it feeds on the blood of the bodies buried beneath it."  


Subaru-chan looked uncertain. "But... the bodies buried under the sakura... don't they suffer?"  


The teenager smiled. He knelt by the child. "Let's make a bet," he said.  


"I made a bet with this boy," the real Subaru whispered. "A bet..."  


"The next time we meet..." the ghost-boy continued.  


"I can't hear you," Subaru whispered fervently. "The wind..."  


"Note well," Seishirou said behind him, "just who you met that day."  


Behind the barrier, Heero gathered his energy.  


The ghost-boy took the child's hands in his. He looked up at the two onlookers and smiled, his eyes a very familiar gold. Subaru turned his head, and met the single golden eye that remained.  


"Was it you, Seishirou-san?" he asked.  


"Yes." Seishirou's smile was a mirror of his younger self's. "We met seven years ago under this sakura tree."  


"Why did I forget?"  


"Because I erased your memory."  


"You..." Subaru's voice broke. He raised his gloved hand to his mouth.  


"You don't remember what you saw under the sakura?" Seishirou's single eye looked at him mesmerizingly. "You don't remember what I buried?"  


Blood on a white dress, a small body embraced by the tree's hungry roots-  


The dream-scene in front of them changed.  


"A little girl?!" Subaru gasped.  


The exclamation broke through Heero's concentration. _No, not another little girl... lost..._  


The young onmyouji started towards the door, but was stopped by Seishirou's outstretched arm.  


"Even if you run away as fast as you can," the man said, "it is already too late."  


"Who... who killed this girl?" the green-eyed boy demanded.  


"You don't remember? _I_ killed her."  


Heero's eyes widened at the admission.  


"I remember," Subaru whispered. "My grandmother had an appointment with people from the government... I was supposed to wait for her... I heard a voice calling me; I walked the streets of Tokyo, the streets that are strange to me even now. I noticed the sakura.  


"It radiated the hate and pain of so many... I wanted to ease their pain, to stop it." The words were flowing more surely now. "I had just learned onmyoujitsu. It was the first time I used it. But there was already a spell there and nothing that I could do. It was then, when..." He stopped, puzzlement on his face. "Raining... red?" He clutched his head. "No! It's not possible... I don't believe it!"  


"You have regained your memories." Seishirou smiled. "I locked them away seven years ago. When you witnessed me kill that girl."  


"It's a lie!" Subaru screamed. "You are- that child- you couldn't have possibly-"  


"It's nothing but the truth. I am the Sakurazukamori. I use onmyoujitsu to kill my victims."  


_They also practice onmyoujitsu, but where the Sumeragi are the light, they are the darkness..._ Subaru's words in the park came to Heero. He drew his energy again, recalling words he had read in Odin Lowe's books so long ago - words he never thought he would need. "Domine..."  


"It's a lie..." Subaru whispered inside the darkness. With visible difficulty the boy forced himself to speak calmly. "If you are the Sakurazukamori, then why do I still live? I thought that all that meet with you, meet with death."  


"Because we made a bet," Seishirou replied calmly.  


"What?"  


"Do you know why your grandmother forbade you from ever removing those gloves in front of anyone else? Why you've worn those gloves she enchanted since you were nine years old?" He gestured to the illusion of the sakura tree.  


"I can't hear you because of the wind," the little Subaru said.  


"This is why, today, I shall let you go," the young Seishirou continued. "So that I may recognize you the next time we meet, I'm going to brand your hands." He brought the child's hands to his lips and kissed their backs tenderly. "These brands show that you are my prey." Blue inverted pentagrams burned on the flesh for a moment, then faded as the small boy fainted into the Sakurazukamori's arms.  


"I never realized," Seishirou said, stopping the illusion again and taking Subaru's hands in his, "that you were the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan. I imagine your grandmother was in for quite a surprise upon seeing the brands of the Sakurazukamori on the hands of her grandson."  


"I remember," the young onmyouji said softly. "That day, obaa-sama told me never to remove my gloves in front of anyone. She told me never to reveal my hands."  


"But a year ago," Seishirou smiled, "those gloves didn't help when we met at the subway station. I understood immediately. Now, the moment has come to conclude our bet." He slipped off Subaru's gloves, revealing the pentagrams that glowed dimly.  


"Our bet?"  


"Don't you remember? 'The next time we meet...'"  


During that conversation, the dream-scene had been frozen, but now the figures kneeling on the grass started to move again. This time, there was no wind to obscure the words.  


"The next time we meet," young Seishirou said, "we will live together for one year. Your spirit is the opposite of mine; you are gentle, pure and sincere. When you grow up, you will be the image of what you are now. Your spirit will always be pure."  


_You, Heero Yuy, are the purest being I have seen._ Duo's words coming back to haunt him... _DUO._  


* * *

Rushing down the stairs to a subway station, Duo Maxwell stumbled and would have fallen if Hokuto had not caught him.  


* * *

"When we meet again," Seishirou-kun continued. "I will do everything possible to love you. And if at the end of that year I feel something true for you, I will not kill you. On the other hand, if you mean nothing more to me than this body, then I will kill you." He smiled. "That is why, today, I shall let you go."  


"Seishirou-san..." Subaru whispered. His face seemed frozen in an expression of desperate disbelief, his eyes fixed on his bare hands held in an unwavering grasp.  


The man whose name he called smiled at him radiantly. "I feel nothing - nothing. Even when I kill. Do you want to know why?  


"There is always one Sakurazukamori. To become one, there is a ceremony of succession, like in the Sumeragi family. Our ceremony is the murder of the previous Sakurazukamori. The Sakurazukamori is always alone. To become one, one must kill one's predecessor and all those close to him.  


"The first time I killed a human being... I was fifteen years old. I killed the last Sakurazukamori.  


"My mother.  


"But I didn't feel anything. The sight of my mother's body awash with her own blood didn't move my heart. Since that day nothing has changed; it doesn't matter who I kill - I never feel anything.  


"For me," the Sakurazukamori shrugged ruefully, "there is no difference between a human being and an object. For me, breaking your arm," he brought Subaru's hands to his lips, the five-point stars lighting with unholy blue fire, "is like breaking glass... there is no difference. To me, a body is nothing more than dust. Do you think I'm a good Sakurazukamori?"  


"Seishirou-san..."  


Beyond the darkness, Heero closed his eyes. "Domine," he whispered, "da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos."  


Seishirou did not pay attention to the concentration of power just outside the illusion he had created. "You understand why we made that bet," he told Subaru. " 'We will live together for a year'," he quoted. " 'If at the end of that year I feel something true for you, I will not kill you.' But- As I thought, it's impossible." He squeezed Subaru's hands to the point of pain. "And seeing you suffer now, I feel nothing. Now we will conclude our bet... I'm going to kill you." He chuckled at the empty, stunned green eyes staring into his own. "What, are you not going to defend yourself? You might just be able to."  


_Defend_. The word flashed lightning-white against Heero's eyelids. _Protect_. "Esse quam videri..." he intoned under his breath.  


"Seishirou-san..." Subaru seemed to have forgotten all words except this single name.  


"Est scelerum vindicta..." Heero squeezed his fists tight.  


"Why such a sad look?" the Sakurazukamori asked. "Do you think I've betrayed you? Every day, there are new tales in Tokyo. Betrayal of one by another, that's an everyday occurrence in this glorious city."  


"Est poena malorum..." Starwind, brightlight, godstrenght. Still a whisper.  


The assassin moved Subaru's hands to the secure hold of one palm and touched his cheek with the other. "I don't hate you. But I don't love you either. To me, you're nothing but a simple object. Even if I have touched your spirit, in the end that does not change anything." His eye gleamed gold in the darkness. "All the people I have murdered... they are waiting for you."  


Heero's eyes snapped open. "Brevibus momentis summa verti." Words that cannot be disobeyed.  


The dark barrier shattered, and with it the Sakurazukamori's illusions. The assassin's head snapped around, his arm still holding the Sumeragi by his side.  


"Ah, Heero-kun!" he beamed. "I did not think you'd choose to join us."  


"Apage."  


The single word flared into life between the two, chiseled letters arching out to strike at Seishirou, who caught and dispelled them effortlessly. "Tsk, tsk..." he sighed. "You'll need more than that."  


"I _have_ more," Heero snarled. "Ab igne..." he intoned. The air around his hands glowed gold. He raised them, crossing his arms in front of his face. "Ignem!" he cried.  


And the flames flew bright and true, a whip of pure fire.  


This time the Sakurazukamori used both hands to stop the attack, but his smile did not fade. By his side Subaru sank to his knees, eyes downcast and face devoid of any expression.  


"Nice try," Seishirou admitted. "A Latin translation of Qaballah incantations, wasn't it?"  


Heero did not reply, merely took a step forward, lifting his hands for another attempt.  


"My turn now," the assassin said softly. He raised his own hand and the darkness around it swirled, taking on the form of a giant eagle perched on his wrist. "Go."  


"Shikigami..." Heero whispered. _They're spirits that obey the magician's orders._ Subaru's words, the first time they met.  


The shikigami spread its wings and lunged at Heero, beak and talons at the ready.  


Heero's eyes widened-  


* * *

-running down the street, Duo swore violently, feeling a sharp tug at his soul-  


* * *

-and the bird attacked.  


But Heero wasn't there, a slim figure pushing him out of the way, then shuddering as the wicked talons struck flesh.  


Heero's arms went around Subaru automatically, steadying them both. His fingers touched warm blood and he realized that the Sakurazukamori's attack had hit the other boy instead, cutting a deep gash over the ribs.  


"No way!" the Sumeragi snarled at Seishirou, leaning heavily on Heero. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!"  


"My, my, Subaru-kun!" The assassin smiled. "I must say I'm impressed. But I'm afraid that I have to take care of a certain nuisance before we can fight."  


One snap of his fingers sent Subaru flying across the dark space, finally skidding to a stop beside the door.  


The shikigami shrieked and turned back for another attack.  


"Noli me tangere!" Heero hissed.  


The words echoed in the darkness, weaving a barrier around the brown-haired boy. The eagle-spirit struck against this shield and screeched in obvious pain. The powerful wings flapped helplessly as the bird plummeted to the ground.  


"Not bad." Seishirou was smiling again. "But still-" and he was by Heero, his hands closing on the boy's throat- "not good enough."  


* * *

The receptionist tried to stop the two figures who rushed past her, but her hand closed only on Duo's braid. A brief moment later, all she was holding was a broken hair tie, as Duo and Hokuto disappeared in the staircase, the former surrounded by a storm of golden-brown hair.  


* * *

"Now... you die."  


Sakura petals surrounded them in a swirl of pink-  


clinging to his skin-  


blood-  


pain-  


* * *

"So you see, Nokoru-kun, sometimes security measures are necess-" Quatre stumbled, then sank to his knees, clutching at his heart.  


"Quatre-kun? Are you alright?" Nokoru asked, hurrying to his side.  


"My... uchuu no- kokoro..." The Arabian gasped for air for a moment, then looked up at the other boy. His face was serious but no longer expressed pain.  


"What happened?"  


"Heero is... in danger, I think. We should-"  


Quatre was about to say something more when he heard a sound he knew all to well.  


A gun's safety catch being slipped off.  


"Put your hands up and don't try anything stupid."  


* * *

Heero struggled in vain against Seishirou's hands at his throat, weakening with each passing moment. A few more seconds and-  


"CAW!!!!!" Black wings and a wicked beak.  


The Sakurazukamori let go of his prey and covered his head, preventing the furious raven from picking out his remaining eye. He swatted futilely at the bird.  


Heero slumped to the ground, panting. The sakura petals dissolved into thin air.  


"What in the seven hells do you think you're doing?!" The voice was at once familiar and eerie; the usual cheerful bounce was absent and a cold anger replaced it. The raven ceased its attack and fluttered to perch on Duo's shoulder. The light from the corridor threw an impenetrable shadow over the long-haired boy's face.  


Then Hokuto ran in, out of breath. She stopped when she saw who was in the room. "Sei-chan?! But grandmother said-" She reached out, but was stopped by Subaru's outstretched hand.  


"Be careful, Hokuto-chan," her brother said. "He's the Sakurazukamori."  


"No..." she whispered.  


Seishirou ignored the twins, turning his attention to Duo. "I'm doing what I want to do. That is the way of the Sakurazukamori. You, on the other hand, are naught but a messenger. You cannot interfere."  


"Au contraire." There was a cold amusement in the boy's voice. "I've left all that messenger shit behind when I first flew a Mobile Suit."  


"You cannot change what you are, no matter what whims you succumb to."  


"But I can change who I am. Death may still follow in my footsteps, yet I choose who he takes."  


"Neither your or my duty is about choice."  


Duo took a few steps forward, Seishirou taking a step back every time. Finally the American reached the circle of light in the middle of the darkness. His face was drawn into his usual joyful smile, but his eyes gleamed bright silver. He helped Heero to his feet, putting an arm around the brown-haired boy.  


"I've chosen a long time ago. You might have been right about the Gundams being a whim, but _I_ changed on the day I saw Heero's eyes. Took me a while to realize it, but I think I prefer his light to my darkness."  


Tears started flowing down Subaru's face. Hokuto put her arms around him.  


"And," Duo continued, "I've warned you about hurting him, Sakurazukamori."  


"Then is it war, Shinigami no Tsukai?" Death's Messenger.  


Duo's lips twisted in a predatory grin. "So it is."  


Seishirou shrugged. "Maybe another time." A whirl of sakura petals surrounded him and he faded, the darkness fading with him. Duo, Heero, Subaru and Hokuto were left standing in a regular hospital room. There was no sign of the American boy's raven.  


Duo turned to Subaru. "We'd better get a doctor to look at this wound of yours, Su-chan."  


"Wait." Heero grabbed his arm. "What was that all about?"  


"Y'see, Hee-chan..." Duo smiled ruefully. "Seishirou isn't the only one who was tempted by a pure spirit. Only, in my case, I lost utterly." He hugged his lover. Heero's arms stayed by his sides, his eyes blank with surprise and confusion.  


"So Seishirou Sakurazuka-" Hokuto said, "-is the Sakurazukamori?"  


"Yes," Subaru answered her with an emotionless voice. "I-" He tried to reach out to Heero, but stumbled and collapsed to the floor.  


Duo was by his side immediately. "Doctor, now," he said curtly. "You need it."  


* * *

Subaru's wound turned out to be superficial, his collapse owing more to his exhausted emotional state. The duty nurse informed the waiting trio of this, as well as the fact that the boy had been sedated and now slept.  


"What do we do now?" Heero asked.  


Duo grinned the grin he used to wear when slicing through Leos back during the war. "_I_'m going to go give Seishirou a beating he won't forget in a hurry."  


"I'm going with you!" Hokuto said. "I'm the one who threw them at each other... I want to pay him back for what he did to my brother!"  


The American eyed her warily, then shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Just be careful." He put his hand on her arm. "Please be careful, Sumeragi-hime."  


"I'm going too," Heero added.  


"No way, Hee-chan. You don't even realize how much blood and energy you've lost to the sakura."  


"Duo-"  


"I said, no way. Hokuto-chan, I need to pay someone a visit first. Meet me at the main entrance to Ueno Park in two hours."  


"Alright, I need to get something from my apartment anyway."  


"It'll be almost dark in two hours," Heero pointed out.  


"I know." Duo shrugged. "But if we don't get him first, he's bound to attack Subaru again."  


"So two hours from now, Ueno. I'll be there," Hokuto said and exited the waiting room.  


"Duo," Heero said, "you knew about Seishirou. Why didn't you do anything?"  


"I'm wondering myself," the other boy snarled. "I _thought_ he was like me - I couldn't hurt you if the fate of the world depended on it. Turns out I was wrong."  


"What was that 'Shinigami no Tsukai' you were talking about?"  


"That's me," Duo smiled, "the one and only. I only learned about it after the orphanage I was in was burned down by OZ, killing everyone inside. I had this... vision, you might say. I learned stuff that came together with what had already happened. 'Shinigami no Tsukai' are special persons born in times of turmoil; we always look the same and use the same power. Like the raven, we are harbingers of doom. Thing is, we're not supposed to actually take part in resolving conflicts, merely set them in motion. I guess I'm too stubborn to be a proper Tsukai, 'cause the first thing I did after learning all this was to go snoop after a way I could fight against OZ. You could say I'm a rogue."  


Heero's eyebrow quirked upwards. "And you're not a bloodthirsty killer feeding some ancient tree?"  


"No. I don't kill with magic, period."  


"I'm glad." Heero's arms drew Duo tightly against himself, their foreheads coming together. "I... love you, Duo."  


"Love you, too." The braided boy's smile was that of an angel.  


* * *

Once alone, Heero sat still for a moment, then got out his cellphone and dialed.  


"Barton here." Trowa's voice was monotone and emotionless, the way he got during a mission.  


"01." Heero fell into the same pattern, mission-speak. "Trouble here, might need back-up."  


"Negative, not possible."  


What?! "Elaborate, 03."  


"We've got a situation here."  


* * *

* * *

Notes: Dialogue between Sei-chan and Subaru taken mostly verbatim or only slightly tweaked from the translation by Amarythia and Ryoppei. I don't have this volume, so I improvised a bit with the choreography and shortened the words. I hope I've managed to preserve some of the emotional impact of the story.  
"An angel passed" -- from "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. My fave book of all time ^_^  
Ginza (this should have been in the previous chapter) is according to my sources a busy shopping street in Tokyo, sort of like Oxford Street in London.  
Latin phrases courtesy of "Everyday Latin", by Czeslaw Jedraszko (Warsaw, 1988)  


Latin mini-dictionary:  
Domine - Lord  
Da mihi virtuem contra hoses tuos - give me courage (strength) against your enemies  
Esse quam videri - To be, rather than to be seen  
Est scelerum vindicta - There is vengeance for crimes  
Est poena malorum - There is punishment for evil  
Brevibus momentis summa verti - In a brief moment, everything changes  
Apage - begone (as in 'apage satanas' ^_^)  
Ab igne, ignem - from fire, fire  
Noli me tangere - touch me not  


In the next chapter: What does Trowa mean? What trouble has befallen the other pilots, trouble that can compare with having a bloodthirsty magician after their heads? Read the next installment of Gundam Babylon, "Campus under fire"!  



End file.
